


The Inconvenience of Feelings

by aquastar89



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Jealousy, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 49,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25932484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquastar89/pseuds/aquastar89
Summary: A series of interconnecting one-shots where Damon deals with his emerging feelings for a certain green-eyed witch.Or my version of how TVD should have gone
Relationships: Bonnie Bennett/Damon Salvatore
Comments: 41
Kudos: 140





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My little contribution to the Bamon fandom. The idea for this got stuck in my head because I love reading about Damon being jealous when it comes to Bonnie. I'll try to follow the timeline the best that I can, but this won't be very plot driven. I don't have a beta so please forgive any mistakes and please let me know what you think.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Damon sat on one of the many couches in the living room of the boarding house, nursing his second glass of bourbon. He was waiting for the rest of the scooby gang to arrive so they could discuss the most recent mess that Katherine was making in town. He had resigned himself quite some time ago to being the makeshift leader of the little ragtag group of teenagers. Elena and Stefan probably thought they were the ones that made all the decisions, but Damon is the one that gets shit done. They like to hide behind morality and humanity and all that crap. Whereas Damon had no such qualms with getting his hands dirty and doing what needs to be done. If that made him the bad guy in their little incestuous group then so be it. He would do whatever it takes to protect Elena, no matter what the consequences are.

In the midst of downing the rest of his bourbon, Damon heard the door open and watched as one by one his house was flooded by teenagers. Elena entered first, looking as beautiful as ever. Stefan was right on her heels and he was followed by the most annoying one out of the bunch, vampire barbie. There was a noticeable absence however, in the form of one judgy little witch. Loathe as he was to admit it and he would never do it out loud, they couldn’t get anything done without Bonnie. With an eye roll and a groan he prepared himself for the headache that was no doubt to follow in the coming moments.

“Where’s Bonnie?” he asked standing up off the couch. “She knows she has to be here. She is the witch is this equation after all.”

Elena slid her back pack off her shoulders and placed it on the floor. “She’ll be here Damon. She had to wait for Jeremy.” Elena replied, a sly smirk plastered on her face.

Damon scowled, “And why did she have to wait for Jeremy? We don’t need him. It’s not like he is actually useful.”

Elena rolled her eyes. “Damon you may not want him here, but Bonnie does. They like each other.”

“God don’t make me puke. I’d like to keep my bourbon down, thank you very much.” Damon wasn’t sure why the thought of Bonnie and little Gilbert together made the bile rise in the back of his throat, but something about it just didn’t sit right with him. He couldn’t stand the girl on his best day, but she was a powerful Bennett witch and she could definitely do better than Elena’s little brother. That’s another thought he would keep to himself though. He couldn’t have anyone getting any ideas about him feeling any type of way about her besides revulsion.

Stefan walked over to the bar and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He wasn’t a heavy drinker, but somehow he knew he would need a drink if he was going to make it through this meeting. “Damon, could you at least try to be nice when they get here?”

Damon scowled. “Careful brother, the lines on your forehead are protruding.”

Caroline, never wanting to be left out, finally made her presence known. “Or how about you just don’t say anything at all and the rest of us will pretend you're not here.”

His eyes narrowed. He was already in a foul mood and there was something about the sickeningly sweet smile on her face when she said it that set him off. Damon was in front of Caroline in the blink of an eye and had his hand wrapped around her neck. “Or how about I snap your little blonde neck and call it a day.”

“Damon!”

“Damon let her go!”

Damon didn’t pay any attention to Elena or Stefan yelling in the background. He was tired of Caroline and her smart mouth. He wouldn’t mind the peace and quiet that would come along with her having a broken neck, even if it was short lived.

He smiled as he watched Caroline claw at his hands trying as hard as she could to release herself from his grip. She may be a vampire now, but he was a hundred times stronger than she was, not only because he was significantly older than she was, but also because she was on Stefan’s little animal blood diet. She would never be able to over power him.

“DAMON!”

He never even had time to register who that voice belonged to before he was thrown across the room, hitting the wall with enough force that would knock a lesser vampire like Stefan unconscious, luckily he was nothing like Stefan. He was on his feet in an instant ready to attack. The witch was going to pay for that. Stefan stood in front of him with his arms up blocking his assault on the annoying little do-gooder.

“Damon, you need to calm down.”

“Get out of my way little brother.” Damon snarled. “Me and the witch need to have this out. ”

Bonnie scoffed. “Don’t kid yourself Damon. I’ll put you back on your ass before you could even think to touch me.” She was so over his sadistic bullshit. When she walked in and seen his hand around her best friends throat she saw red. She would love to just put a stake through his heart and be done with it, but she would never hurt Elena like that. As much as she hated it, she knew Elena cared for Damon on some level. Try as she might she would never understand why though. All she seen when she looked at Damon was a monster with a chiseled jaw and piercing blue eyes. Neither of which were enough to sway her opinion of him. He was the devil and that was that. “I have told you time and time again to keep your hands off of the people I care about or I would put you down.”

Damon narrowed his eyes with malice. “You think your little parlor tricks are enough to put me down witch. You’re mediocre at best.” He scowled as he side stepped Stefan and stalked towards Bonnie. “I’ve went up against way more powerful witches than you and came out on top..every..single..time. So don’t test me little witch. I don’t care if I made a promise to Emily or not, I’ll rip your pretty little heart right out of your chest.”

Bonnie jutted her chin out defiantly and stared at Damon directly in his eyes. Her days of being afraid of Damon were long gone. “I’d like to see you try. You don’t scare me Damon. You’re the equivalent of a child throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t get his way.” Her emerald green eyes darkened. “Don’t make me put you in time out.”

Damon made to move into her personal space, but Jeremy intercepted him. “Back off Damon.”

“Jeremy don’t. “ Bonnie said gently while grabbing his arm to pull him back.

Jeremy let her hold his arm, but made no attempt to move back.” I’m sick of his crap Bonnie and so is everybody else.”

Damon chuckled. “Aww aren’t you adorable. Baby Gilbert has got himself a crush and now he’s being protective of the little witch.” For reasons he couldn’t quite put his finger on, Jeremy stepping in front of Bonnie rubbed him the wrong way. This was between him and judgy. He didn’t want or need Jeremy’s interference.

Damon closed the minuscule gap between him and Jeremy with a snarl. “What exactly do you think you can do to protect her? You’re about as useful as a newborn baby and if it wasn’t for that damn ring on your finger you would have been dead a long time ago. If anybody in this room needs protecting… its you.”

“Damon please…just stop. This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Elena, ever the diplomat had to calm the situation down before it got really ugly. She was use to Damon’s antics by now, but she wouldn’t put up with him threatening her friends or family.

Damon rolled his eyes, but eventually backed off. Grabbing his leather jacket off a chair he slid it on and started walking to the door. “I’m going to sit this meeting out. I’ve had enough of you people today.”

“Damon…”

“No Stefan, let him go. If he wants to storm out like a child,” Bonnie cocked an eyebrow and smirked. “Let him.”

He really hated that witch. “Good luck coming up with a plan to stop Katherine without me.”

“I think you’re overestimating your influence here Damon.” Bonnie knew she was lying. As much as she hated to admit it, Damon was always the one that came up with the plans and she’d take it to her grave before saying it out loud, but his plans usually worked. The problem was, he didn’t care how it was executed as long as it was.

Bonnie and Damon stared at each other for a few long seconds with what could only be described as pure hatred. Everyone else in the room was on high alert waiting for one or the other to attack, but eventually Damon just took in a heavy breath, shook his head and walked out of the boarding house.

While he was getting into his car his vampire hearing zoned in on a conversation between two certain individuals. He shouldn’t have cared less about what they were talking about, but he just couldn’t stop himself from listening.

_“Bonnie are you ok?”_

_“Yeah Jer, I’m fine. You didn’t have to stand up to Damon like that though. I can take care of myself.”_

_“I know you can Bonnie, but I really like you and you mean a lot to me. I’m not going to let Damon get away with talking to you like that.”_

_“Damon’s an asshole, but I can handle him. Thank you though, it's been a long time since I had someone stand up for me like that, especially to someone like Damon.”_

_“I’d do anything for you Bonnie.”_

Damon gripped the steering wheel so tight, he thought he might break it. He couldn’t see Bonnie’s face, but he just knew her pretty green eyes were sparkling and she was beaming up at little Gilbert right now. He still couldn’t figure out what it was about Jeremy and Bonnie that got under his skin, but he was going to go find a pretty blonde or brunette with long legs and some nice cleavage to have for dinner and forget all about them.

* * *

It was late when Damon finally sauntered into the boarding house feeling considerably better. His belly was full of booze and blood and there wasn’t a single soul on earth that could bring his mood down. Or so he thought. It never crossed his mind that there might be a whole mess of sleeping teenagers in his living room. Damon’s mood instantly soured as he looked at all the sleeping bodies scattered around the room.

Stefan and Elena were, of course, cuddled up together on one couch, while Caroline was curled up in a chair. As much as he thought Stefan and Elena would be the ones that bothered him the most, it was the other couple in the room that really had his fangs itching to be released.

Bonnie and Jeremy were on the other couch looking like quite the intimate pair. Jeremy was half sitting, half laying on the couch with his arm draped around Bonnie’s shoulder. She was laying in what looked like a very comfortable position with her upper half laying on Jeremy’s torso and her legs tucked in tightly under a blanket. Her hair was tucked behind her ear giving Damon a perfect view of her heart-shaped face. She looked so peaceful. He realized in that moment that he had never noticed how beautiful she was.

Sure he always knew she was hot; he had eyeballs and perfect vampire sight, but he’d never paid that close of attention before. As far as Damon was concerned she was the judgy little witch who performed whatever spell he needed her to, so they could protect Elena and then they went their separate ways until the next time Elena needed saving. It was a vicious circle, but either way he never really thought about the witch aside from when he needed her. So he couldn’t for the very life of him figure out why he couldn’t stop thinking about her now.

She had hit a nerve earlier with some of the things she had said, but that was par for the course with them. They hardly said a word to one another outside of their missions and when they did it wasn’t ever anything pleasant. So even though she worked his nerves earlier, he still didn’t think to much of it. Little Gilbert however, when he stepped in front of Bonnie to protect her, which was laughable all by itself, he had wanted to rip Jeremy’s head clean off his shoulders.

There was something deep, deep…deep down that was trying to tell him something about why this whole situation was affecting him this way, but he wouldn’t allow himself to dwell on whatever it is.

Bonnie shifted in her sleep and her hair fell on her face. Damon didn’t know what possessed him to kneel down in front of her and very softly and slowly tuck her incredibly soft hair back behind her ear, but If you asked him he would claim temporary insanity. He held a breath he didn’t need and froze as she stirred a little bit from his touch, but made no other movements other than snuggling even closer into Jeremy’s chest and let out a contented sigh.

Jeremy’s arm wrapped around her even tighter and it took every ounce of will power he had not to rip it clean off. He shook off the feeling of wanting to kill him and looked over at Elena and Stefan, wondering why they weren’t eliciting the same feelings of contempt that he held for Jeremy and Bonnie. Well really just Jeremy. After all, Elena is the woman he is actually in love with and yet, watching her as she laid comfortably cuddled up to Stefan, even though all the feelings of love and admiration he had for her were right there at the forefront, he didn’t feel the same anger bubbling inside of him. He could only chalk it up to being use to seeing them together so it didn’t bother him as much as it use to. Stefan is the man she is hopelessly in love with and most likely always will be. Maybe he had finally accepted it and hadn’t realized it yet.

None of this however, explained his animosity towards the other couple. As soon as he had heard Elena say that Jeremy and Bonnie liked one another, this quiet rage had settled underneath his skin just begging to be released. Maybe he just didn’t understand why someone as beautiful and powerful as Bonnie would want someone as weak and useless as Jeremy. They just didn’t make sense. She needed to be with someone as equally powerful as she was. Someone who could actually help protect her if the occasion rose. Someone who could stand toe to toe with her and wouldn’t back down from her overly judging behavior. Call him crazy, but Jeremy wasn’t it.

“Damon,” Stefan said groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “What are you doing? When did you get back?”

He looked over at Stefan as he readjusted the blanket covering Elena’s slender body. “A few minutes ago,” he answered quietly so as to not wake the rest of the slumbering teenagers. “and I’m just trying to figure out why all these teenagers are sleeping in our house.”

“The meeting ran late and we all just decided it would be better for everyone to crash here. I honestly didn’t think you would be back tonight after the way you left.”

“Yeah well, I do sleep here so there’s that and my bed is pretty damn comfortable.”

“Damon you’ve got to try and control your temper. What happened with Caroline and Bonnie today…”

“Let me stop you right there little brother. I’m in no mood to be lectured by saint Stefan tonight. It’s been a long day and I’m tired and I’d just like to go to bed and dream about the tiny little brunette that was kind enough to let me feed from her earlier.”

“Did you kill her?”

Bonnie’s sleepy little voice caught them both off guard.

Damon snapped his head in her direction and looked into her lovely viridian eyes that were staring intently at him. Usually Damon would come up with a snarky reply to get a rise out of her, but he just didn’t have it in him at the moment. “No judgy, she’s probably at home right now in her bed, none the wiser of the events that transpired tonight.”

He was expecting some sarcastic remark in return, but she didn’t say anything. The only confirmation he had that she had heard him was the slight raise of her eyebrow and the look of utter disgust on her face before she closed her eyes and drifted back off to sleep on Jeremy’s chest. His jaw tightened as he watched them for a few seconds, completely forgetting about the fact that Stefan was still awake.

Stefan studied his brother silently as he watched Bonnie and Jeremy sleep. He noticed Damon’s narrowed eyes and the slight tick in his jaw. The way he clenched and unclenched his fists while watching the sleeping couple with a look that Stefan could only describe as longing. He had to admit he was a little taken aback by what he was seeing. As far as he knew the only feelings Damon harbored for Bonnie were animosity and contempt. Now he was wondering if his brother wasn’t hiding his true feelings for her under all that hate, but it was also just as likely that Damon wasn’t even aware of his affection for the little green eyed beauty. It was very likely that Damon was standing there wondering what was going on with him that made him so interested in her all of a sudden. Stefan’s money was on the latter.

“Damon,” Stefan started carefully, knowing it wouldn’t take much to set Damon off. “You alright?”

Stefan’s voice was the equivalent of being doused with a bucket of ice cold water. Damon shook his head and snapped out of whatever trance he was in. He glanced at his brother, annoyed that he had let Stefan witness his moment of, whatever the hell it was and replied haughtily, “I’m fine little brother, but I’m going to bed.”

Stefan knew better than to push the issue, so he just nodded his head and let Damon stew in peace. “Goodnight Damon.”

Damon waved him off as he walked out of the living room and headed towards the stairs, but caught himself stealing one last glance at Bonnie before she was out of his sight.

* * *

Damon laid in his bed and stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, wondering what in the world was wrong with him. Try as he might he just couldn’t get the little witch out of his head. Every time he tried to go to sleep all he saw were her judgy green eyes. He was at a complete loss as to what brought this little obsession with her on. Well that wasn’t exactly true, he knew it all started with that stupid little Gilbert and him thinking he could protect Bonnie or maybe it started when Elena told him that they liked each other.

Something clicked in his brain right then and he instantly grimaced. No, it’s not possible. It’s not. There is no way in hell that it’s possible and even if it was, he would never admit it out loud. He would never in a million years admit that the reason he was so bothered by Bonnie and Jeremy today was because he’s jealous. But maybe…just maybe there might be something deep, deep…deep down besides just hatred for the witch and maybe, just maybe that would explain his strange behavior earlier. It still wasn’t jealousy though and he’d argue that fact until his last day on earth.

Damon sighed and rolled over onto his side. He wasn’t religious by any means for obvious reasons, but he still found himself praying to whomever might be listening that he would finally be able to go to sleep. He also hoped to all that was holy that when he closed his eyes, he dreamt of the tiny brunette with caramel skin and brown eyes that he fed off of tonight and not the tiny brunette with caramel skin and green eyes that he couldn’t seem to get out of his head. He wasn’t jealous though…he wasn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reviewed, bookmarked and left kudos on my little story! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it so far. The first chapter was very generalized, it could have been set anywhere between 2x02 and 2x08 ish. I'm a little rusty with the show, but this chapter takes place specifically in 2x17. I took some liberties with things that happened to suit my needs. I also have a beta now so *fingers crossed* the mistakes are slim to none. Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Klaus Mikaelson; If Damon never heard that name again it would be to soon. He’d never even heard of an original vampire before Klaus showed up in Mystic Falls and now he wished he never had. He’d always known that vampires had to originate from somewhere. He just didn’t know that whomever it was would be a 1000 year old douchebag hell bent on wreaking havoc wherever he went, all in the name of breaking some damn curse. Which, in a not so shocking turn of events, requires a doppelganger -cause why not- and said doppelganger just happens to be Elena.

He had no idea why trouble seemed to latch on to that girl like a magnet, but he sure wished whatever cosmic monster that was making his life hell for whatever reason, would give him a break. He needed just a few moments of peace, but apparently that was too much to ask for in a town like Mystic Falls. It’s no wonder he had always hated it here.

As per usual, Damon was stuck figuring out a way to stop Klaus from completing some stupid ritual that would make it possible for all vampires to walk in the sun. Damon didn’t necessarily have a problem with that, he did have a problem however, with the fact that Elena had to be sacrificed to complete the ritual. That was a no-go for Damon.

“Elijah said if I could harness the power of the dead witches, we could defeat Klaus. The only problem is, I have no clue where they were burned.”

Bonnie’s voice broke through his little reverie. She came to the boarding house to brainstorm about how to stop Klaus after they retrieved the grimoires from the Martin’s place and of course she had to bring her new favorite shadow. It annoyed Damon to admit it, but their little relationship was starting to grate on his nerves.

He glanced over in her direction and rolled his eyes in disgust. Little Gilbert might as well be wrapped around her like a damn pretzel. It seemed like ever since she and Jeremy had gotten together Jeremy was attached to her at the hip. It was nauseating to say the least. Damon just wanted to shove him away from her and tell him to let her breathe. He knew she would probably give him a witchy migraine for his efforts though, so he contained his impulses. Plus he didn’t need anybody getting the wrong idea.

He just chalked it up to not wanting another lovey dovey couple running around. Elena and Stefan were sickeningly romantic enough. Too much of that nonsense would make any self respecting vampire want to puke.

So Damon just donned his signature smirk and said, “Well lucky for you, I happen to know where that is.” He loved rubbing his usefulness in Bonnie’s face seeing as how her boyfriend was the complete opposite of useful.

Bonnie looked at him surprised and narrowed her eyes skeptically. “You know where the witches were burned?”  
“Don’t looked so surprised judgy. I’ve been around for a long time and plus witches are kind of my thing.” Damon’s eyes went wide and he wiggled his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t make me puke.”

Damon scowled. “Whatever, do you want to go to the witches house or not?”

“I don’t think I have much of a choice,” she replied somberly.

“Hold on, wait a minute,” Jeremy said as he grabbed Bonnie’s arm gently and pulled her farther away from Damon. Like that could keep him from hearing their conversation. Hello…vampire hearing. Damon for his part made a show of heading to the bar and pouring himself a glass of bourbon. Partly because he needed a drink and partly to keep his mind from wondering to places it shouldn’t be. Like how he wanted to rip Jeremy’s hand off every time he touched Bonnie.

“What’s wrong Jer?” she asked curiously.

“I just don’t know how I feel about you harnessing the power of a hundred dead witches Bonnie,” he started softly. “Call me crazy, but that seems incredibly dangerous and you don’t know what the consequences might be.”

Loathe as Damon was to admit it, baby Gilbert made a decent point. They didn’t have a clue what would happen or how it would affect the little witch, but he also knew Bonnie would do whatever it took to protect Elena. She wouldn’t care about the consequences as long as she could save her best friend. She had a serious martyr complex.

Bonnie moved into Jeremy’s personal space and wrapped her arms around his neck. Damon’s eye twitched. “Jer, I love that you are so concerned about me. I really do, but I have to do this. It’s the only way to defeat Klaus and save Elena. I can’t let anything happen to her Jer. You of all people should understand that.”

She stood on her tippy toes to give him a kiss on the lips. Jeremy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him to deepen the kiss. Damon’s jaw clenched and he downed his bourbon. He allowed himself just a moment of wondering what it would feel like to have Bonnie’s petite little body wrapped in his arms and how her lips would feel against his. Anybody who wasn't blind could see she had curves in all the right places, even though she tried to hide them behind flowy hippy tops and pants that fit just slightly too loose.

Damon cleared his throat before things escalated and he got the urge to break Jeremy’s neck. “If you two are done being disgusting. The dead witches, remember them? We should go and get this over with. ”

They simultaneously rolled their eyes and untangled themselves from one another. Bonnie walked over and grabbed her grimoire off of the table she sat it on and then her and Jeremy headed to the door without so much as a backward glance at Damon. When Bonnie realized Damon wasn’t following them she turned around and asked with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised, “You coming?”

“I don’t know witchy, you’re not making me feel very welcome right now.” As a matter of fact Damon was highly annoyed at their dismissive behavior towards him. Well not so much baby Gilbert, he couldn’t care less about him. Bonnie however, her lack of acknowledgement really rubbed him the wrong way.

“Damon, don’t pretend like you want to be doing this with us anymore than we want to be doing this with you. We have a mutual understanding of how much we dislike one another so what’s the point of trying to make with the false pretense?”

Damon had always taken what the little witch said with a grain of salt because he never cared what she thought of him before. He still didn’t care and yet; something twisted in his stomach when she admitted to not liking him. He already knew it to be true, but to hear the words come out of her mouth…it effected him more than it should have.  
Damon schooled his features and shoved passed them. “Fine, but we’re taking my car.”

Bonnie was a bit taken aback by the look on Damon’s face when she told him they disliked one another. It was gone in the blink of an eye, but she had caught it. He almost looked upset by the revelation, which struck her as odd because last she knew he hated her just as much as she hated him. So what was with the look? She shook it off as he walked passed and followed him to his car. She had to give him one thing, he had damn good taste in cars. She’d never tell anyone obviously, but she secretly loved riding in his 1969 Chevy Camaro. She especially loved that it’s a convertible, but again she'd never say that out loud.

“Jer, you can sit up front.”

Damon stopped short from opening the driver side door and shook his head. “Nope, baby Gilbert’s sit in the backseat. It’s the safest place for children.”

Jeremy clenched his jaw and his fists. “God you’re such an ass.”

Bonnie put her hand on Jeremy’s arm and told him calmly, “Don’t let him get to you Jer. Besides it’s fine, I’ll sit in the back with you. I’d rather sit with you anyway.” She looked directly at Damon when she said that last part.  
“Whatever,” Damon sneered. “Just get in the damn car.”

The drive over to the witches house was tense, at least it was for Damon. The couple in the backseat looked as comfortable as ever though. Damon had to use all the willpower he possessed to keep from looking in the rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of Bonnie. He had no idea what was going on with him lately, but whatever it was he needed to get it in check. It was starting to get embarrassing.

He finally succumbed to his desire to look at her however and snuck a glance, but when he did his ice blue eyes were met with two beautiful green ones and in complete un-Damon like fashion, he got spooked and looked away quickly. He kicked himself in the ass for being such a pansy. What in the hell was she doing to him? He was starting to wonder if she had performed some sort of witchy juju on him. He quickly let go of that notion however, because he knew Bonnie wouldn’t do that. Mainly because she couldn’t be bothered to think about him for more than two seconds, let alone put some kind of spell on him.

Nope, this was all Damon. Whatever _this_ was anyway. Damnit.

* * *

They arrived at the witches house and Damon was the only one who wasn’t taken aback by the sight of it. The once grand white plantation house looked every bit like it had been through a terrible fire. Windows were broken, soot covered the majority of the outside and dead vines wrapped up and around the pillars on the front of the house. All in all, it looked like one hell of a haunted house, but they wouldn’t be your run of the mill ghosts, no, these were witches. Powerful pissed off witches who were burned alive. Damon sighed. He was not looking forward to going in there.

Bonnie stopped short and put her hand over her mouth in shock. “Oh my goodness.” She stated quietly. She couldn’t believe that a hundred witches had been burned alive in this place. What an absolutely tragic way to die and all for practicing their craft. She couldn’t imagine. She was suddenly glad she was born in the time she was.

“Come on, “Damon started walking to the door. “Let’s get this over with.” He didn’t like being here anymore than the rest of them. These witches hated him. He didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary.

Jeremy for his part, put a comforting hand on Bonnie’s lower back and lead her into the severely burned building.

As soon as they entered the building and Damon was standing in a spot where the light was shining through the windows, they all knew something was wrong. Damon’s skin started to smoke and slowly melt off. He was burning like he didn’t have a daylight ring on. He hurriedly sped over to a spot that was completely shaded and the burning stopped. He patted his leather jacket to put out any residual flames. To say he was angry was an understatement. He did not like being burned alive and he immediately knew who was responsible for this trickery.

“I don’t think the witches want you here Damon.” Bonnie got some sort of sadistic kick out of watching the dead witches set Damon’s ass on fire. She had done it once herself, but stopped as a courtesy to her best friend. Biggest mistake she had ever made if you asked her.

The smarmy smirk on Bonnie’s face made Damon want to drive his fangs into her jugular. “Screw you Judgy,” he snapped. “And screw you too Emily!”

He heard Jeremy snicker from his place next to Bonnie in a spot where the sunlight was beaming through the windows. “Why don’t you come over into the shade with me and laugh you little shit?”

Jeremy sobered up pretty quickly, but still rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just leave Damon? It doesn’t seem like the witches want you here anyway.”

He hated that Jeremy was right. He could stay and be confined to one spot or he could leave and forget he ever bothered to set foot here. The latter was definitely the more appealing option.

“Fine. I hope you get what you came for little witch.” And with that he sped out of the house as fast as he could so as to not get turned into a crispy critter again. He was already going to have to buy a new leather jacket. He didn’t want to have to nurse too many burns on his perfect skin as well. Vampire healing was quick, but it still took time and the pain was severely unpleasant and Damon preferred all of his pain to happen in the bedroom.

He contemplated leaving and saying screw the both of them, but there was something in his head telling him to wait for the troublesome little witch to make sure she made it out in one piece. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was bothering to listen to whatever the hell it was, but he found himself resting against the hood of his car with his arms crossed awaiting her return with a scowl firmly in place. God he needed help.

* * *

It took some time, well a lot of time, way more than he liked, but they finally emerged from the house looking like two kids on Christmas.

“Am I to assume by the look on your face witchy that the plan worked?”

Bonnie didn’t say anything, she just closed her eyes, held out her hands and let the magic flowing in her veins speak for itself. She’d never felt anything like it before. She could feel them, all of them. Vibrating just beneath her skin, it was almost overwhelming. She concentrated on showing Jeremy and Damon what she was capable of now.

Damon watched in awe-but without showing it of course-as the wind kicked up and the colorful fall leaves on the ground started whipping around unnaturally. The trees starting swaying back and forth and Damon had to plant his feet to keep from being moved by the force of it all. He was struck by her ethereal beauty, her hair flew around her asymmetric face wildly, but other than that she was completely calm and unmoved. She was completely in her element. She was powerful before, but Damon knew she was a force to be reckoned with now. It was in that moment that Damon realized that they were going to beat Klaus.

“Bonnie.” Jeremy placed his hand on her shoulder to break her out of her trance. She looked up at him and smiled and he returned it with one of his own. “Wow. That was incredible Bonnie.”

She jumped into Jeremy’s arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. He picked her up off the ground and swung her around while they both laughed happily.

Damon watched the couple as they lived in their happy little moment, but he only saw Bonnie. The way her eyes were closed and how the slight but contented smile that was plastered on her face made her face light up.

He was so caught up in the moment, he didn’t notice that Bonnie had been watching him as well. When Jeremy finally put her down, but was still holding onto her, she happened to open her eyes and seen Damon looking at them with a look on his face that she couldn’t quite place and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

When Damon finally realized that he was staring at Bonnie and she was staring right back at him, he narrowed his eyes and held her gaze for a few seconds longer before looking away and walking around to the driver side of his car and sliding into the seat. He slammed the door- not too hard, he loved his car- to get their attention and asked snarkily, “You guys coming or are we going to stand out here all day holding hands and singing kumbaya?”

They pulled apart for the second time that day, but were slightly less annoyed this time. Bonnie was in a great mood and Damon’s attitude wouldn't bring her down. Jeremy opened the passenger door for Bonnie and let her slide into the backseat first and then followed suit. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she happily rested her head on his and that’s how they sat the whole ride back to the boarding house.

Needless to say it nauseated Damon to no end. He couldn’t wait to be rid of the two of them for the day or maybe the week. He needed to put some serious distance between himself and the happy couple. He especially needed some distance from the juiced up little witch. When he wasn’t with her, it was like his head was clear and he could think straight, but when he was near her, there was this Bonnie sized fog that clouded his brain and made him think and feel certain things for the witch and he hated it. He wasn’t suppose to feel anything for her except contempt.

* * *

Damon pulled into the boarding house driveway and promptly exited his car. “Well you got what you needed today Judgy. Feel free to mosey on home and practice your new found witchy juju or whatever it is you do in your free time.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but still wouldn’t let him get to her. “Don’t worry Damon, we’re leaving. I think we’ve all spent enough time together for one day.” She grabbed Jeremy’s hand and started leading him to her car. “Come on Jer. Let’s go back to my house.”

Jeremy followed obediently and Damon wanted to vomit. He didn't want to think about what they might do alone at Bonnie’s house. He did however, feel the need to get a rise of out the seemingly nonplussed witch and called after her, “Don’t say I never did anything for you Judgy.”

She stopped and looked at him over the roof of her Prius and replied calmly, “You didn’t do this for me Damon. You did it for Elena.” She gave him just the tiniest hint of a smile and entered her car, put the key in the ignition and drove off.

Damon stood and watched as she drove away and contemplated what she said and whether or not it was the truth. It was obviously the truth, he knew that everything they were doing was to save Elena and yet, he felt a stirring deep down inside that said he needed to make sure that Bonnie came out of this unscathed as well. He realized he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he might care about the witch. He grimaced. God when did that happen? He shook his head and turned to go into the house. He needed a drink.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This tags 2x18. I had to split this into two chapters because it started getting very long. The good thing is I already have 90 percent of the next chapter finished. So it won't take long to post. I've also decided to change the title because Jealousy just doesn't seem adequate anymore. This has become so much more than I originally intended. I'm terrible at titles though, so I'm still trying to come up with something lol. Thank you to all those who have left kudos, reviews and bookmarked my little story. You guys keep me writing.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

Damon stood by the bar as he watched Elena go through the process of signing the deed to the boarding house with the family lawyer. He and Stefan had both agreed that making her the official owner was the easiest way to keep her safe. If the owner was alive then no uninvited vampires could enter. Especially one thousand year old vampires named Klaus.

A light knock on the front door drew his attention from the pretty long haired brunette and the heavily balding man. He already knew who was at the door without even having to open it. He could hear the steady cadence of her heartbeat and he could smell the subtle hint of jasmine and vanilla that was uniquely her. He rolled his eyes and let out a slight groan. He really hated that he knew these things about her. In his defense, he was a vampire, so he was bound to notice these types of things about people. It wasn’t that she was special or anything. At least that’s what he would keep telling himself.

Stefan opened the door for the little witch and Damon couldn’t help but begrudgingly notice that she looked quite beautiful. Her dark brown hair was curled slightly and she wore her typical loose fitting clothing. He tried averting his eyes so as to not to make it obvious that he was clearly staring at her. Luckily for him, she couldn’t be bothered to even notice that he was standing in the same room as she was, so he could probably stare at her all he wanted and she would be none the wiser.

She greeted both Stefan and Elena happily, she even gave the family lawyer a polite hello. All the while, blatantly ignoring Damon and that annoyed him to no end. Damon absolutely hated being ignored and he wasn’t going to let her get away with it for very long.

“You almost ready to head to school Elena?”

“Yeah I just have to finish signing this paperwork.”

Damon looked over at Stefan to see if his brother was thinking the same thing he was. They locked eyes and shared a short silent conversation. They were definitely on the same page. They would keep their thoughts to themselves however, until the lawyer left. There was no need to upset the girls fragile sensibilities with compelling the lawyer to forget their conversation. Their moral compasses pointed in the direction of not compelling innocent people unless it was absolutely necessary. Elena’s moral compass however, had the slightest bit of wiggle, whereas judgy’s moral compass was as impenetrable as Fort Knox and he didn’t feel like being on the receiving end of a witchy migraine this early in the morning.

“Is there anyway we can move this along?” Damon pressed hastily. “We all have things we have to do today.”

“Damon don’t be rude.” Bonnie said pointedly.

To say that Damon was annoyed that Bonnie finally acknowledged his existence only to reprimand him for being rude, was an understatement. He understood that they were suppose to have some sort of mutual hatred for each other, but Damon had kind of, sort of, moved past all of his hatred for her and upgraded to a slight dislike that bordered on not being dislike at all. He'd never tell her that though.

“Don’t be so judgy…judgy.”

“It’s fine, we are almost done. Just initial here, and here, and sign here.” The lawyer said calmly, pointing to each place he needed her to initial or sign. “And that’s it. Congratulations Ms. Gilbert, you are officially the new owner of the Salvatore family boarding house.”

Elena shook his hand with a sincere smile on her face. “Thank you so much.”

Stefan ever the gentleman shook his hand as well and then said politely, “Thank you. Allow us to walk you out.”

Damon stood still and made no attempt to move. He caught Bonnie rolling her eyes at him from across the room. Everyone except for the lawyer was looking at him expectantly. Damon caught on to what they wanted and rolled his own eyes. He plastered a fake smile on his face and said, “Yes, let's walk you out, since you must not be capable of finding the front door on your own.” Just because he was going to do it didn’t mean he had to be nice about it.

He smirked as he watched everyone’s eyes in the room look toward the ceiling in annoyance. The lawyer looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. “It’s really fine, I can find my way out.”

“Oh come on,” Damon started jovially, walking toward the balding man. He slapped him on his shoulder and got a kick out watching the man squirm. “I’m just messing with you. Let us show you out.” With his hand still on the man’s shoulder, he lead him to the door while Stefan and Elena followed.

They all walked outside and said their final good-byes to the man and he scurried off a little quicker than one usually would, unless you were in the presence of a hundred and some odd year old vampires. Damon snickered as he turned around to face his brother and Elena and saw the stony looks on their faces. Damon groaned inwardly, he was in no mood to be lectured about proper etiquette when dealing with people.

“What?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“Damon, would it kill you to just be civil for once?” Stefan knew he was beating a dead horse, but his brother really did test his patience sometimes.

“I have no desire to have this conversation with you right now little brother. Don’t you think we have more important things to worry about anyway?” Damon sidestepped the both of them and started for the door. Once he reached it however, his mood instantly soured. He couldn’t cross the invisible barrier. He couldn’t get into his own damn house without Elena’s invitation. He was already over this day.

Elena, of course, walked right passed him into the house with the smuggest look on her face. She turned around to face the brothers and smiled. “Oh yeah, since this is my house now, I have to invite you in.”

Stefan annoyingly thought she was being cute. Damon just thought she was being annoying.  
She looked at Stefan and said sweetly,” Stefan will you please come in?”

Damon sneered as he watched Stefan walk into the house, smiling like the damn Cheshire cat. He too, then turned to face Damon, crossed his arms over his chest and enjoyed watching Damon squirm.

“Alright that’s enough Elena. Let me in the house.” He tried to keep the bite out of his tone, but it was no easy feat.  
“Not until we lay down some ground rules.”

“What, are we in kindergarten? This is my house.”

“This may be your house, but I own this house now and in order for me to invite you in you have to agree to follow my rules and be a good little vampire.” She waited a breath for his response. She knew she was being a little mean, but he needed to know that she meant business. When he only stood there with a scowl on his face, she continued, “I’m being serious Damon. No more of your shenanigans. You have to make an actual effort to be good.”

Damon sighed and glanced passed Elena into the house and noticed that Bonnie had been watching the whole exchange. It really irked him that Elena was making a fool of him in front of the little witch. He completely expected her to be enjoying Elena’s little power trip -give the girl an inch and she takes a mile- but she seemed more pensive than anything. It almost seemed like she thought Elena was being cruel, but he had to be reading her expression wrong because she wouldn’t care if someone staked him right now in front of her. There’s no way she would give a damn about this.

He looked away from her before he started looking like a creeper and turned his attention back to the brunette in front of him. As much as he loathed the idea of giving into her petty behavior, he knew the only way he was going to be able to enter his house was to tell her what she wanted to hear. It never hurt to tell a little white lie after all. “I’ll never be Stefan, Elena, but I promise I’ll make an effort to be better.”

She gave him a sweet smile, but it still wasn’t like the one she reserved for Stefan. Stefan would always get her best smiles. Damon decided not to dwell on that however, he didn’t want to get sucked down that rabbit hole.

“Damon, would you please come in?”

“Thank you Elena.” He spoke evenly through gritted teeth, attempting to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He walked passed her into his house and went straight to the bar. He swore he never use to drink this much, but the company he was keeping these days just had a way of bringing the drinker out of him.

“Well we have to get to school. Bonnie, you ready to go?”

Bonnie pushed herself off of the wall she was leaning against and started walking toward her best friend. Boy was she ever ready to go. She’d had enough of this place already today. She wasn’t sure why, for obvious reasons, but Elena’s little power trip a few moments ago rubbed her the wrong way and the last thing she wanted to do was feel sorry for Damon. No thank you. So for that reason alone, she couldn’t wait to leave for school. “Yep lets go…”

Damon sped over to the front door and blocked their path. “Oh no, you two aren’t going anywhere today.”

Bonnie took a defensive stance, preparing to give Damon an aneurysm if the need arose. “Excuse me?”

“It’s too dangerous or did we all forget about a certain thousand year old vampire running around and we don’t even know what he looks like. He could be standing right next to one of you and you wouldn’t have a clue.”

Bonnie eyed Damon curiously. He made a valid point, but what threw her for a loop was, he mentioned the both of them and not just Elena. Since when did he care about what happened to her? If she really thought about it he had been acting differently around her lately, but she honestly didn’t want to think about it. Ignorance was bliss after all.

“Damon, I understand you’re worried about me, but I’m not staying locked up in this house. I’m going to school.”

Damon took note of the fact that Elena said he was worried about her and not the both of them like his statement had clearly implied, but he wouldn’t dare bring it up. Some things were just better left unsaid. “Well hell, since you care so little about your own damn safety, why don't we just hand you over on a silver platter.” Sometimes Elena was too stubborn for her own good. He wouldn't mention, that more often than not, when things went wrong it was because of her and her inability to listen to reason.

“Damon you’re being dramatic.” She turned her attention to Stefan who had been noticeably quiet throughout their whole exchange. “Stefan, would you tell Damon to let us go to school? We’re going to be late.”

Stefan studied the faces of everyone in the room and contemplated the safest way to approach this topic. He knew Elena wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “As much as it pains me to say it, I actually agree with Damon on this Elena.”

Bonnie and Elena both did a double take. Neither of them had ever heard Stefan agree with Damon, for one or go against Elena’s wishes for two. “Stefan…”

Stefan hurried over to his girlfriend and took her hands in his. He needed to diffuse the situation before things got out of hand, but she had a flare for the dramatic. “Elena you know I always side with you on these things because you are perfectly capable of making your own decisions, but this time, I just think you going to school while Klaus is out there is an unnecessary risk. Especially since we have no idea what he looks like.”

Damon and Bonnie both watched the exchange between the couple and both were thinking almost the same thing. Neither one could wrap their heads around Stefan siding with Damon and both of them knew what the outcome would be. Even with Stefan trying to make Elena see reason, she would still stubbornly insist on going to school anyway. She really held no regard for her own safety and as admirable as that was, it was sometimes reckless and caused undo harm to others who were trying to protect her. Damon and Bonnie however, had no clue that for once they were both actually on the same side in this argument.

Elena sighed and looked around at the faces of her boyfriend, her best friend and Damon. “Bon what do you think?”

Bonnie eyebrows rose in surprise. She was honestly never really privy to these conversations. The brothers and Elena usually made these types of decisions alone and everyone else just had to go along. Apparently today wasn’t one of those times and as much as Bonnie wanted to tell her best friend to stop being so bull-headed, she knew she wasn’t going to. She could never go against what Elena wanted. It was honestly one of her biggest character flaws, but that was something to contemplate on a different day.

She resigned herself for the argument to come and answered untruthfully, “I...think…” she sighed. “We’ll be fine going to school.”

Damon threw his hands up and scoffed. “Of course you would agree with her.” Elena was stubborn, but if there was anyone more bull-headed and stubborn than Elena, it was Bonnie.

Stefan took a few steps toward her and calmly said, “Bonnie, you’re the voice of reason here. She won’t stay here unless you tell her it’s not safe.”

Bonnie felt herself about to cave. Stefan had this way about him, that would make it extremely easy to give into whatever he was asking her to do. It was especially easy this time because she actually agreed with him. It just made more sense to not go to school, but when she glanced over at Elena and seen the hopeful look on her face, she knew whose side she was on.

“Stefan we’ll be fine.” She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. “I have the power of a hundred dead witches coursing through my veins. If anyone tries to hurt Elena I can protect her.”

“Who’s going to protect you?”

Damon noticed that every head in the room snapped in his direction. All of which were donning some very confused looks on their faces. He ignored all of them except the one that belong to the green-eyed witch. He knew he should have kept his thoughts to himself, but he had always been a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy.

Bonnie stared at Damon in bewilderment. To say she was perplexed would be an understatement. For as long as she had known Damon he had never shown any concern for her wellbeing. She could only assume that he only cared about her being able to protect Elena. She straightened her shoulders and stood tall, well as tall as she could anyway, and replied with conviction, “I can protect myself.”

“Fine,” Damon growled through gritted teeth. “Go to school, get kidnapped by Klaus. We’ll just be here waiting to find out that we have to rescue your stubborn asses.”

“Actually you’ll be the only one waiting Damon.” Stefan sauntered over to the couch, picked up his backpack and slung it over one shoulder. “If they’re going to school than so am I. At least we’ll have another pair of eyes and ears to keep a look out and if anything happens I can help protect Elena.”

He reached his hand out for her to grab and gave her his signature smile that he reserved only for her. “Come on, we’ll take my car.”

She laced her fingers through his and gave him a quick peck on the lips then said, “Thank you.”

Damon rolled his eyes and grumbled sarcastically, “In my opinion you’re all idiots, but have a good day at school.”

Stefan and Elena paid him no mind and headed out of the boarding house. Bonnie made to follow them, but as she walked passed Damon she was stopped abruptly by a hand wrapped firmly around her wrist.

“Wait.” The softness of his voice made it clear it wasn’t a command.

She stood frozen for a moment as her brain adjusted to what was happening. She glanced up at Damon and then to her wrist and then back to Damon. She found herself surprised by the gentleness by which he held her. His grip was firm, but she could easily pull free from his grasp if she wanted to. Which begged the question. Why hadn’t she snatched her wrist away and given him a piece of her mind?

Damon was just as shocked by his actions as she was. When she walked passed him he was struck by the sudden urge to stop her. He didn’t know where it came from, but he gave into the urge and grabbed her wrist. He knew he should’ve let her go immediately so he wasn’t on the receiving end of a witchy migraine, but for whatever reason he was still holding onto her.

They just stared at each other for what seemed like forever, but was only a few seconds. When he finally came to his senses he slowly removed his hand and cleared his throat. “Be safe. Pay attention to your surroundings, be on the lookout for anyone suspicious and stay away from people you don’t know.”

Bonnie nodded her head and let out a shaky breath. “Okay,” she answered in a soft voice.

They stood awkwardly for a moment until Damon spoke up. “You should probably go. Stefan and Elena are waiting.”

“Right,” Bonnie said still slightly dazed. It took her a second to catch on, but when she finally did, she shook her head and said, “Right!”

She turned around and scurried off quickly. When she made it outside, Stefan was waiting in the driver seat of his car and Elena was standing outside leaning against it waiting for her.

“Everything okay Bon?” Elena asked curiously.

Bonnie nodded her head and said “Yeah…yeah. I uh…I was looking for my backpack, but I forgot that I left it in my locker yesterday.”

“Oh okay. Well come on, we’re already going to be late.” Elena opened the door and lifted the seat so Bonnie could climb into the back.

Stefan glanced at Bonnie in the rearview. He had heard the interaction between Damon and Bonnie and was curious about why she decided to lie to Elena about it. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal, although it was awfully strange that Damon would Express so much concern for Bonnie’s wellbeing. He did however remember the way Damon had looked at Bonnie the night they all stayed at the boarding house. So maybe his brother was finally coming to terms with whatever he was feeling towards Bonnie. It was becoming very clear, that he definitely didn’t hate her anymore and judging by the way that Bonnie was rubbing her wrist and staring off into space, made him think that maybe Bonnie didn’t hate Damon anymore either.

He broke out of his reverie and started to drive, he couldn’t dwell on whatever was going on with his brother and his girlfriends best friend because he had bigger problems to deal with. Namely the thousand year old vampire that wanted Elena. Yeah he had bigger fish to fry.

Damon stood at the bar with a freshly poured glass of bourbon in his hand. He was wondering the same thing that Stefan was, only he didn’t know it. Why had Bonnie lied to Elena? Why had he felt the need to make sure he told her to be safe? Why in the hell did he do a stupid thing like grab her wrist? There were so many questions and he hated that he might know the answers to all of them, but that was something to contemplate on a different day.

* * *

Damon hated to tell Bonnie and Elena that he told them so; no wait, he loved the fact that he could tell them he told them so. He told them it was unsafe to go to school, but does anyone listen to him? Of course not. He’s only the brains of this operation after all.

While they were at lunch, Klaus compelled some teenage girl to ask Elena to go with him to the 60s dance later that night. Which meant he had been at the school today and no one had been the wiser. Now Elena, Bonnie and Stefan were back at the boarding house and the girls were all shaken up. They were waiting on Alaric to show up so they could come up with some kind of plan that didn’t end up with Elena being kidnapped and sacrificed by a psychotic vampire.

“Bet you both wished you would have stayed here now, huh?” Damon asked cockily with his signature smirk planted happily on his face.

Neither of the girls said anything. They just both gave him some of the dirtiest looks he had ever seen and since he had a special way of pissing people off, he had seen some dooseys in his day.

Stefan for his part looked every bit as smug as Damon did because he had not wanted the girls to go to school either. At the moment, they were trying to talk them out of going to the 60s dance later that night and of course as stubborn as they both were neither one of them we're planning on not going. Even after the conversation they had earlier, but he guessed some people just never learned.

Finally after what seemed like forever Alaric showed up apologizing for being late for whatever reason or another. Damon didn’t much care.

“I’m going to need you to make me a chaperone at the dance tonight. Our resident original vampire made his presence known to Elena today at the school.”

Alaric nodded his head in acknowledgment. “No problem buddy.”

“Well now that the important members of the gang are all here, lets get down to business. You guys didn’t see anyone that looked suspicious or out of place?” Damon asked in disbelief. He couldn’t understand how a thousand year old vampire was walking around the high school today and nobody had noticed. As a vampire you had to know how to blend in, but one would think that an original vampire would have a certain presence about him, but Damon really had no idea what the maniac was capable of.

Elena rolled her eyes and sighed. “No Damon. Just like we already told you, we didn’t see anyone that looked suspicious. There were no new students or teachers. We knew everyone that was in the lunchroom.”

“Alaric, you were in the lunchroom.” Bonnie stated matter-of-factly. “Did you see anyone that looked out of place?”

Everyone in the room turned their attention to the history teacher and waited for his response. When it never came Stefan looked at him curiously and asked, “ Alaric, you alright?”

Alaric seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and finally answered the question. “Uh, no. I didn’t see anyone that looked suspicious today.”

It infuriated Damon to no end that Klaus had been so close to Elena and Bonnie and nobody had a damn clue. It also wasn’t lost on him that he was damn near just as worried about Bonnie that he was Elena, but he had no desire to dwell on that just now. Damon also noticed that Bonnie was trying her hardest to look anywhere but at him.

He realized his little show of concern must of spooked her earlier. He'd have to do something to piss her off to get them back on their normal track of mutual distaste for one another. At least on her end anyway, because as much as he hated to admit it, he was pretty sure that the proverbial hating Bonnie train had officially left the building. At least when she hated him though, she wasn’t afraid to talk to him and he had grown fond of their little disagreements. She was the only one who could go toe to toe with him and hold her own. Elena was brave, but she somehow always ended up being the damsel in distress. Whereas Bonnie, she was brave, strong and was more often than not, the one doing the rescuing.

“Well I guess all that’s left to do is come up with some kind of plan…” Stefan started, but was abruptly cut off by Bonnie.

“The plan is simple.” She looked around the room at all the faces and steeled herself. “I kill him.”

The room was silent while everyone stared at her like she had two heads and then it seemed like everyone came to their senses at the same time because the room erupted in a cacophony of voices all calling her crazy in one form or another.

“Absolutely not Bonnie.” Elena exclaimed emotionally.

Stefan, always the voice of reason said evenly, “We’ll come up with another plan Bonnie.”

Damon’s voice came through the loudest and seemingly the angriest. “ Are you out of your damn mind?”

“Damon.” Elena said exasperated.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows and asked angrily. “Excuse me?”

Alaric eyed her cautiously. “ Yeah no offence, but Klaus is the most powerful vampire in existence. What makes you think you can kill him?”

“He may be strong, but I have the power of a hundred witches inside of me. Combine that with my own power and I guarantee you I can kill him.” Bonnie acknowledged that she may sound cocky, but she was positive that she could defeat Klaus.

“I’m with Ric on this one. I mean what if he….” Damon rushed at Bonnie trying to catch her off guard. Bonnie was ready for him though and threw up her hand, sending him flying back across the room and into the wall behind him. The force of it was so great that multiple pictures and other items went crashing to the floor.

Stefan watched Damon fly across the room with little to no effort from Bonnie. “I was impressed.” It wasn’t the first time she had used her power to toss Damon around. All the other times though, Damon had been caught off guard. This was the first time he had actually attempted to attack her first. Did Stefan think it was a good idea for Bonnie to go up against Klaus? No, but he also acknowledged that they really didn’t have any other options.

“I’m telling you I can do this. I can kill him.” She turned to her best friend and passionately said, “I can kill him Elena.”

Elena studied her best friend and saw that Bonnie truly believed that she could take down Klaus and Elena had no reason to believe she couldn’t do it. Bonnie was powerful without the witches power, so she was definitely a forced to be reckoned with now. If anyone could take down Klaus, it was Bonnie. She gave Bonnie a sad, but hopeful smile and said, “Okay Bon.”

Damon was in the process of cleaning himself of any debris left over from the impact with the wall, but stopped abruptly when he heard Elena. “What the hell do you mean ok?” he asked Elena angrily and then turned his attention to Bonnie. “Look I’ll admit that you pack one hell of a punch, there’s no denying that, but throwing me into a wall does not equate to killing a one thousand year old original vampire.”

Bonnie was at a loss for words, she had no idea what Damon’s issue was. He was just so confusing these days. She shook her head in bewilderment and said, “I got to say Damon, I don’t understand what your issue is. I’m the best shot we have. Hell I’m the only shot we have. I’m the only one with the power to take him down. What other choice is there?”

Damon understood where Bonnie was coming from and a month or two ago he would have welcomed the idea with open arms. Hell he probably would have pushed the idea himself, but as much as he hated it and he did hate it, he did not like the idea of her going up against Klaus alone. Not even with all the power she had. Damon thought she was being stubborn and reckless and letting her martyr complex get the best of her. He shook his head and said, “You know Bonnie, you’re easily one of the bravest people I’ve ever met.”

She gave him a slight smile and went to say thank you, but he cut her off.

“But right now, you’re also one of the stupidest.” Damon turned on his heels and stalked off out of the living room.

Bonnie stood in shock as she watched Damon walk away. “What the hell was that about?”

Stefan shook his head and chuckled lightly. He knew exactly what was going on with Damon, but he wasn’t going to say anything. So he just shrugged it off and said, “It’s Damon, who knows. I’ll talk to him though. You guys should head out. We have a dance to get ready for.” He kissed Elena good-bye, told them he would see them later and then went looking for his brother.

* * *

Damon was relaxing on in his bed with a book, or at least attempting to since he was still fuming because of the witch and her braindead ideas, when he noticed Stefan standing in his doorway. He was hoping if he ignored him long enough, he would take the hint and disappear. Judging by the way Stefan just stood their staring at him, he wasn’t going to get that lucky.

“You need something little brother?” Damon didn’t even bother to look up from the book in his lap even though he had never actually been reading it.

Stefan stepped a little further into the room and said, “Oh, I was just wondering what it was like to have feelings for two different women.”

Damon’s head instantly snapped up. Stefan knew that would get his brothers attention.  
“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Well we both already know about your feelings for Elena.” The slight tick in Stefan’s jaw didn’t go unnoticed by Damon. “but I want to talk about your feelings for a certain witch we both know.”

Damon narrowed his eyes angrily. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Actually I do.” Stefan said matter-of-factly. “ I’ve had my suspicions that your feelings for her have been changing for awhile, but that little stunt you pulled downstairs just confirmed them.”

“What stunt?”

“I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but you only get that angry when Elena is doing something you think is stupid and puts her life in danger. You had Bonnie down there completely confused.”

Damon climbed out of his bed and stood toe to toe with his brother. “The only reason I even care about her going up against Klaus is because she’s not ready. She’s going to get herself killed and then Elena is as good as dead.”

Stefan had to admit that Damon’s reasoning was sound, but he knew that there was more to it. He knew Damon didn’t want Bonnie harmed anymore than he wanted Elena harmed. Stefan just needed to get him to admit it. “Damon I heard your little exchange before we left for school earlier and you can use the excuse that you just wanted her to be safe so she could protect Elena all you want, but we both know that’s not the case.”

Damon swallowed hard. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be long before somebody caught on to his changing feelings for the caramel skinned beauty. He supposed he should find solace in the fact that it was Stefan. “What do you want from me here Stefan?”

“I just want you to admit it to yourself,” Stefan stated delicately. “Come to terms with it and decide what you’re going to do about it.”

“I’m not going to do anything about it Stefan. First of all, the little witch hates me and second of all, she already has a boyfriend,” Damon said in disgust. “A completely unworthy and useless boyfriend, but a boyfriend nonetheless.”

Stefan was slightly taken aback. He had underestimated just how deep Damon’s affections were. “Just how much do you care for Bonnie?”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing can ever come of it and…” Damon moved into Stefan’s personal space menacingly and shoved a finger into his chest. “She better never find out.”

Stefan was unimpressed. He just looked at his brother evenly and said, “If Bonnie finds out Damon, it won’t be because of me. All of your little outbursts today already have people’s wheels turning. Keep going in that direction and Bonnie will figure it out for herself.”

Damon knew Stefan was right, but he would never admit that to him. He just wanted this conversation to be over. Talking about his feelings with his little brother was never at the top of his list of things he wanted to do. “Don’t we have a dance to get ready for?”

Stefan sighed and nodded his head. “Yeah we do Damon.” He turned on his heels and headed out of his brothers room and towards his own.

Damon was extremely annoyed. He was just coming to terms with his newfound feelings for Bonnie and now Stefan already knew about them as well. Enraged, he picked up the closest glass object he could find, which happened to be his half-full glass of bourbon and chucked it at his bedroom wall. The glass, of course, shattered on impact and left a huge mess all over his pristine wood floor. “Shit,” he grumbled angrily to himself. He’d worry about the clean up later. He had bigger things to worry about; so he turned and headed to his closet to find his best black on black ensemble. He had a dance to get to after all and he had a feeling it would be one for the ages.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the second part of the last chapter which tagged 2x18. I had hoped to have it up sooner, but life just loves to get in the way. I kept small amounts of the dialogue the same as it was in the episode because it suited my needs. Thank you to everyone who left kudos, reviewed and bookmarked my little story. It means the world to me and keeps me writing.

Damon pulled into an empty parking spot at the school, immediately catching the attention of a group of pretty high school girls all dressed in their best 60s get-ups. He smirked and exited his car. “Ladies,” he said seductively and winked as he walked passed. They waved and giggled flirtatiously. If there was anything Damon was certain of, it was his looks. He was easily the most attractive man that would be at the dance tonight. Hell, he was easily the most attractive man in Mystic Falls. 

The walk across the parking lot was uneventful. Most of the partygoers had already made their way into the gymnasium, leaving only a few stragglers milling about outside. His heightened vampire senses caught a whiff of what smelled very strongly of skunk. He followed his nose and looked in the direction of what happened to be a small group of teenagers huddled together a good distance away, clearly trying to smoke a joint discreetly, but failing miserably. He chuckled to himself. He couldn’t say he blamed them. These high-school dances had a tendency to bring out the crazies. 

While continuing his trek to the gymnasium he caught another scent that he had to admit he was annoyingly becoming all to familiar with; Jasmine and vanilla, two of his new favorite scents it would seem. He looked around trying to spot the object of his begrudging affection. Of course, the girl in question was nowhere in sight, but he could tell she was close. Inhaling deeply through his nose he followed the aroma directly to the source and was awarded the sight of Bonnie and Jeremy talking with one another, rather heatedly he might add. Once Damon put his vampire hearing to good use, he understood why they both seemed so upset.

Bonnie was hugging Jeremy when Damon caught her eye. The recognition on Bonnie’s face left no doubt that she knew that Damon had heard everything. That pesky vampire hearing was good for a lot of things. Eavesdropping on other people’s conversations being among them.

They stared at each other knowingly for a few quick seconds before Bonnie turned her attention back to Jeremy. Damon was definitely going to have to have a conversation of his own with her before she did something really stupid. 

After Stefan and Elena showed up, they all made their way through the groovy 60s walkway and entered the dance. The party was in full swing when they entered the gymnasium. Teenagers of all shapes and sizes were gyrating against one another on the dance floor while listening to the best music the 60s had to offer. Damon had to admit that the 60s was a great decade for many things, music being one of them. 

They didn’t even have a chance to make it to the dance floor before a girl on the stage caught their attention by dedicating a song to Elena from none other than Klaus. No one outside of their little group was none the wiser, but everyone Damon cared about was up in arms. He however, was unimpressed. He had seen better. Hell, he had done better. He prided himself on his ability to torment people. It was easily one of his favorite past times.

Elena glanced around the room trying to spot a face she didn’t recognize in the crowded room, but had no such luck. “I don’t see anyone I don’t know,” she commented clearly unnerved. 

“He probably isn’t here. He wouldn’t show his face already. He’d lose the element of surprise. He just wanted to spook you and it’s clearly working. We can’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing he got to us.” Damon swung his arms out enthusiastically. “It’s a party people. Dance, blend. Act like you want to be here.”

Damon watched as Bonnie practically dragged Jeremy out on the dance floor. He allowed himself a quick moment of reflection; a moment of wondering what it would feel like to be the one she was dragging out on the floor, to be the one she pressed her body up against while they danced slowly to whatever song was playing. He made a mental note to ask her to dance later.

After the moment passed, Damon focused his thoughts on the task at hand and informed Stefan that he was going to find Ric. He scanned the room and easily spotted his best friend since he stood out like a sore thumb surrounded by a throng of dancing teenagers. Damon made his way through the dancers to stand next to his best friend.

“That was pretty twisted huh?” Alaric asked sounding impressed. “Dedicating that song to Elena like that.”

Damon rolled his eyes. “I’m not impressed. You’d think for a thousand year old vampire he could come up with something better, but I guess some people just don’t get better with age. Keep your eyes peeled okay. Let me know if you see anyone that looks suspicious.”

He didn’t wait around for Alaric’s response and made his way around the room. He let his eyes wander and saw Stefan and Elena on one side of the room dancing semi-happily together and Bonnie and Jeremy in the center of the room dancing entirely to slow for the song that was playing. It didn’t escape his attention that both the women he felt something for were dancing with other men. He really didn’t know how he let himself get into these situations sometimes. 

He noticed Stefan gesturing him over to Elena. He nodded his acknowledgement and walked up behind her just in time for Stefan to spin her around into his waiting arms. She was caught off guard, but quickly gained her composure and started dancing with him. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked dressed in her 60s garb. Her tiny dress and go-go boots would have had her fitting in perfectly. 

They danced for a few moments, talking about nothing of importance except maybe Damon’s excellent dancing skills. He didn’t want to toot his own horn, but… oh who was he kidding? He loved tooting his own horn. 

After he left Elena he went to find a certain witch that he needed to have a very important talk with. He found the couple in the same spot he had seen them before, dancing the same way they were earlier as well. Little Gilbert clearly needed some new moves. 

He cleared his throat when he was next to the couple. “Mind if I cut in?” he asked, but really left no room for argument. 

Jeremy didn’t look like he wanted to leave Bonnie, but she nodded her head letting him know she was ok with it.

“Sure,” Jeremy said clearly bothered as he walked away.

Damon threaded his fingers through Bonnie’s much softer ones and started dancing and just like he had just moments before with Elena, he took in the sight that was Bonnie Bennett. She looked stunning in her tiny orange dress that complimented her gorgeous caramel skin. Her beautiful brown locks looked every bit from the 60s with a white headband keeping her hair pulled away from her heart-shaped face. Most importantly though, he couldn’t help but notice how right it felt to have her in his arms. This was easily the most they had ever touched one another and Damon had every intention of milking it for as long as he could.

“You heard me and Jeremy talking earlier, didn’t you?” Bonnie asked, getting right to the point. 

“Is it true?” he asked,, answering her question with a question, hoping her answer would be the opposite of what he knew it would be.

“Yep,” she answered simply.

Damon nodded perturbed. He was conflicted in that while being annoyed with her, he also acknowledged how easily they moved together. He wasn’t surprised however, even when they argued they were in perfect sync with one another. He twirled her out and away from him and then twirled her back to him with her back pressed up against his front, a position that was making it very hard to focus on the matter at hand. 

With his one arm wrapped around her chest and his other resting firmly, but gently on her hip they continued to sway to the music. He tried not to think about the feeling of her body beneath his hand at her hip, but that was proving to be a difficult task. Bringing his thoughts back to the forefront, he brought his mouth down to her ear and asked, “and that part about having a 50/50 chance; was that true too?”

Bonnie swallowed hard. She really didn’t want to answer that question. She didn’t want to deal with the repercussions of what others knowing the truth would be. She knew Damon would keep her secret though, so she answered truthfully, yet slightly ashamed. “I didn’t want to worry him.”

Damon sighed. Stubborn ass witch. He spun her back out so he could face her again. “And you’re willing to lay it all on the line for Elena? No matter what?”

Her face was mere inches away from his when she lifted her chin and answered firmly, “No matter what.”

Damon swallowed and tried not to look at her very kissable mouth. Heeding Stefan’s warning from earlier and not wanting to raise any more suspicion he said the safest thing he could. “Good.” 

Bonnie would be lying if she said that it didn’t sting a little bit when Damon said that. She knew that her life would never equate to Elena’s in his eyes, but he had been slightly different with her lately. She was starting to think that maybe he didn’t hate her anymore and actually cared whether she lived or died. Perhaps she was wrong in thinking that, since he was dismissing her life so easily now. 

Damon for his part, wasn’t ready to give up and just let her die. He loved Elena, he knew that with every fiber of his being, but Bonnie had warmed her way into something inside of him and he would be damned if he let her go without a fight.

“You’ve got all that power. Isn’t there anyway to increase your odds?” he asked as nonchalantly as he could as he spun her back out and in again. Her back to his front. He couldn’t help it. He liked holding her like that.

Bonnie was clearly taken aback. This was that side of him that had her so confused lately. Just a moment ago she felt as if Damon was ready to throw her to the wolves, so to speak, if it meant saving Elena. Now though, he seemed a little worried about whether she made it out of this alive or not. She wondered if being bi-polar was a side effect of vampirism. She smiled slightly and said, “Careful Damon. I might start to think you actually care.”

Damon’s eyes went wide and he returned her smile. “We wouldn’t want that,” he said honestly and in a much lower and seductive voice than he intended. He really didn’t want her thinking he cared about her, but he was positive he was fighting a losing battle in that regard.

Bonnie didn’t know if it was their close proximity or the low timbre of his voice when he spoke or a combination of both, but she felt a very unwanted shiver shoot down her spine. The small gasp she let out had her wanting the earth to open up and swallow her whole. She prayed to God that Damon didn’t notice the effect he seemed to be having on her because she didn’t even want to acknowledge it herself. This was Damon Salvatore; the demon vampire that she vowed to loathe for the entirety of her life. She could not afford to develop any sort of attachment or dare she say, attraction towards him. No, absolutely not.

Damon most certainly did notice her slight intake of breath and the tiny shiver that racked her equally tiny body. He knew she tried to hide her bodies reactions the best she could and had it not been for his heightened vampire senses, her very subtle reactions might have slipped his notice, but as it was, he was very much aware. He had to admit that having her react that way to him gave him a small sense of satisfaction. At least now he knew she wasn’t as immune to his charms as she thought she was and his body definitely wasn’t immune to her. 

He really needed to cut this dance short before he gave away way more than he wanted to. Loathe as he was to admit it, Stefan was right. If Bonnie found out about how he felt, it would most certainly be because of him and his inability to control himself around her.

After they danced awhile longer and parted ways, it seemed like the shit hit the fan. One horrible thing after another went down. Jeremy spilled the beans to Stefan about Bonnie and then Stefan obviously couldn’t keep his mouth shut to Elena, who in turn confronted Bonnie. Then Klaus compelled some teenage boys to beat the crap out of Jeremy. Stefan and Damon quickly deduced that it was a diversion to separate them from the girls. The girls discovered that Alaric was no longer in possession of his body and had indeed been taken over by Klaus. Which of course, nobody could have seen coming. 

Damon had literally ran into Bonnie in one of the many hallways at the school and she frantically informed him that she discovered that no matter what she threw at Alaric/Klaus, it would only hurt Alaric and Klaus would be free to possess another poor unsuspecting soul. Damon was at his wits end with the whole situation and was determined to not let Klaus win. 

He looked Bonnie directly in her beautiful green eyes and inwardly kicked himself for what he was about to ask her. “You still prepared to do whatever it takes to kill Klaus?”

Bonnie froze for a split second, second guessing every decision she ever made that led her to this moment. Steeling herself, she swallowed hard and in realizing she was unable to form a sentence without breaking down, just nodded her consent instead.

Everything happened quickly after that. Bonnie went to confront Klaus. Elena and Stefan found Damon sans the little witch and promptly demanded to know where she was, to which he replied solemnly, “She’s doing what needs to be done.” 

Elena’s eyes went wide. “Where is she Damon?” she demanded. 

Stefan looked murderous, “Damnit Damon, what did you do?”

When Damon failed to answer them, they both took off running to find Bonnie and hopefully save her from her apparent suicide mission. They followed the sounds of glass breaking and ended up standing at the door of the lunchroom. The sight before them was one they would never forget.

The room was in complete shambles. Light fixtures shattered, tables and chairs were blown about the room. Papers were flying all over the place. Bonnie was using every bit of power she possessed to try and kill Klaus. She broke every bone of his that she could, but it seemed to be having little to no affect. She would break a bone and it would heal instantly. She was basically killing herself for nothing. 

“Bonnie!” Elena screamed, standing in the doorway.

Bonnie turned around and magically sealed the doors to the lunchroom shut to keep Stefan and Elena out. “Bonnie no!” Elena cried and beat on the door as she watched her best friend go head to head with the original. Stefan shoved his body against the doors over and over again, hoping his vampire strength would be enough to find a weak spot so he could bust through the doors. His attempts proved to be futile. Bonnie’s magic was too strong, making them powerless to help her. 

The fight seemed to go on forever, but in reality lasted only a few moments. Finally Bonnie turned to look at Elena and with tears in her eyes and blood pouring from her nose, she smiled at her best friend one last time before she used up the last of her power. Her body contorted unnaturally and she fell to the ground. Instantly everything stopped. Stefan was finally able to bust through the doors and they ran to Bonnie. Elena dropped to her knees. She pulled Bonnie’s head into her lap and cried, frantically calling out Bonnie’s name hoping she would wake up.

She checked for a pulse and felt none, “Stefan I can’t feel a pulse. Stefan give her some blood. Please Stefan!”

Stefan pushed two fingers against Bonnie’s wrist feeling for a pulse as well and came up just as empty as Elena. He looked at Elena somberly as she cried and begged him to give Bonnie some blood and hated what he had to tell her. “I think it’s too late Elena. Bonnie’s dead.”

Elena’s cries turned to banshee like wails. She pulled Bonnie close to her and continued calling her name hoping something would happen and she would miraculously wake up. 

Damon entered the lunchroom and froze at the sight before him. He only let himself have a couple of seconds to be shocked before he came to his senses and remembered what he had to do. He walked quickly toward the three of them and tried to avoid looking at Bonnie for as long as possible. 

“Stefan get Elena out of here while I take care of it. The last thing we need is for the sheriff to see this.”

Elena raised her eyes in disbelief. “Take care of it? This is Bonnie,” she yelled in anguish. 

Damon bent down next to Bonnie’s body, looked at Stefan and said quietly, but firmly,” Stefan get her out of here so I can take care of the body.”

Stefan nodded his head, still in shock himself and grabbed Elena trying to pull her out of the room. He was thankful he was a vampire in that moment or he may not have been able to get her to move. As it was though, he was able to pull her to her feet and escort her out of the room and away from her dead best friend. 

Damon felt that if his heart could beat, it would have stopped again the moment he walked in and seen Bonnie lying on the floor. He acknowledged that if there was ever any doubt that he might feel something for her, there was no denying it now. Seeing her like this broke him a little. Her make-up was smeared and she had blood all over her mouth and chin. A sheer sign that she had used entirely too much magic and her fragile human body couldn’t handle it. 

Damon only allowed himself a moment to come undone before he composed himself and did what needed to be done. Apparently, that was a theme tonight. He couldn’t handle looking into her unseeing eyes that always held so much life in them, so he gently pulled her eyelids down. She went from looking dead, to looking like she was asleep or just unconscious. It was a lot easier to handle her after that. 

He gently picked her up bridal style and cradled her head to his chest. He could easily admit that if he would have ever got to hold her like this, he damn sure hated that it had to be under these grim circumstances. Making his way out of the school was easy enough. The dance was still in full swing, so there were hardly any straggling teenagers wondering around the halls. He had already moved his Camaro to a back entrance and left the trunk open to make the getaway quicker.

Damon abhorred the idea of putting Bonnie in the trunk. She deserved so much better, but for the umpteenth time that night, he did what he knew needed to be done. He laid her body down as gently as possible, looked at her for a few moments longer and then shut the trunk, leaving her body to the lie alone in the darkness. 

He rested his palms on the trunk and hung his head. Sighing heavily, he couldn’t help but wonder why their lives had to be so hard all the time. Damon had always been one for excitement, but he would gladly take some boredom and monotony right now, if it meant they could have a moments peace.

After his moment of reflection passed, he walked around to the driver side of his car and opened the door. Just as he was about to slide into the drivers seat, he heard his name being called. Damon turned his attention to the teenage boy running towards him and steeled himself for what was to come.

Jeremy finally reached Damon and slightly out of breath asked, “Damon’s what’s going on? Where is everyone?” The look on Damon’s face made Jeremy pause for a second. “Damon…where’s Bonnie?” he asked more firmly.

Damon stared back at Jeremy somberly and without his usual snark replied, “We need to talk kid.”

* * *

Back at the boarding house, Damon prepared himself for what was sure to be a furious Elena waiting for him to show his face. He entered the house and was immediately met with the fiery brunette. Sitting her coffee cup down on the nearest table, she stood up from the chair she was sitting in and shrugged off the blanket she had draped over her shoulders. She marched towards him with purpose until she was standing eye to eye with him.

Damon held his hands out in front of his body trying to calm the heart-broken teenager down. “Elena,” he started softly. “I need you to listen to me.”

“Where is she Damon?” she asked, not even trying to give him a chance to talk. “What did you do with her?”

He tried again. “Elena, please just listen to me.”

Elena was having none of it though and asked through gritted teeth and with tears in her eyes, “You knew didn’t you? You knew if she used all that power she would die, didn’t you?”

Damon didn’t answer. He hardly wanted to admit it to himself, he damn sure didn’t want to admit it to Elena. 

Her eyes went wide at his silence and she yelled infuriated, “Didn’t you!?” 

Damon’s eyes went equally as wide as he finally admitted it. “Yes,” he replied through gritted teeth.

The slap came so hard and fast, Damon didn’t see it coming. His head snapped to the side from the force of her fury. Under normal circumstances, Damon would have been enraged from someone putting their hands on him, but this was Elena and these damn sure weren’t normal circumstances. So he reigned in his anger and said calmly and evenly, “Elena, I need you to listen to me. What I’m about to tell you is very important and is going to change everything.”

She was still seething, but he knew she wouldn’t be lashing out at him again. “Nobody could have predicted that Klaus was using Alaric’s body. None of us seen that coming. Bonnie wasn’t prepared for that.” He paused for a moment. “Klaus went in there prepared for Bonnie. He knew she had all that power and he knew she was going to use it to try and kill him. He also knew that her body couldn’t handle using all that power. He wanted her to die and we had to make him believe that she did.”

He watched as Elena’s face switched from anger to confusion and then finally to recognition. He watched as relief flooded her features.

“You mean…” she started hopefully.

“She cast a spell on herself. It gave the appearance of death without the nasty side effect of actually dying.” He paused. “Bonnie’s fine.” And with that he walked away from her and towards the bar. The events of the night definitely called for a drink. He started the night skeptical, yet slightly hopeful that Bonnie could take down Klaus and ended the night by putting her, thankfully still alive, but dead looking body in the trunk of his car and doubting that the bastard original could even be killed. 

Sighing, he poured himself a drink and knocked it back quickly. Not nearly sated, he poured himself another, knocking it back just as quickly as the first. He slammed the glass down on the bar and headed toward his room to take a shower to wash the events of the night off. He was stopped abruptly though, by a voice he had been on pins and needles to hear again. Damon slowly made his way around the room so he could see the laptop screen sitting on the table in front of Elena and so he could see Bonnie’s beautiful green eyes filled with life again. 

She hadn’t been awake yet when he dropped her off at the dead witches house. He had laid her body down on a few soft blankets and a pillow he had set up in the basement, as far away from any prying eyes as he could get her. He had lit some candles to illuminate the room so she didn’t have to wake up in the dark and he had made it very clear to Jeremy that he wasn’t to leave her side, so she wouldn’t have to wake up alone. He had wanted to stay until she woke up, but he was positive his was not a face she would want to see first thing after the ordeal she just went through. He had also known that he needed to end Elena’s suffering as quickly as possible. So he had left and as much as he hated to admit it, walking away from her lifeless looking body had been one of the harder things he had done. 

He was quickly coming to the realization that he was in deep where the little witch was concerned and since he still clearly had feelings for Elena as well, he knew he was in some deep shit. He had stupidly fallen for his brothers girlfriend and then even more stupidly developed feelings for her best friend, someone who just happened to hate his guts and with good reason too. He had done nothing but make her life miserable since he had come to town. She had lost her beloved grams because of him. That fact alone was enough to make it impossible for her to feel anything even remotely close to what he felt for her. Yeah, he was in deep shit.

He stayed out of the view of the camera so Bonnie couldn’t see him, but he could see her beautiful face just fine. She was crying heavily. Apologizing to Elena profusely, like she was the one who had gone through the traumatic experience of casting a spell that rendered her body lifeless. Damon shook his head, that girl would never change. She would always be more worried about the feelings and lives of others over her own. She needed a serious reality check. She needed someone to show her that her life was not disposable. Damon was ashamed to admit that he played his part in helping her believe she was expendable. He always put her life at the bottom of the totem pole. That would definitely be changing though.

“Maybe you should tell her how you feel Damon,” Stefan whispered coming to stand next to him.

Damon glanced at his brother from the corner of his eyes and then back to computer with his little witches face still gracing the screen. He sighed deeply and answered just as quietly. “She’s the best one out of all of us Stefan. She deserves better than me. She’s happy with Jeremy and I won’t come between that.” 

Being the bigger person was definitely not one of Damon’s strong suits, but for Bonnie he would make an exception. Stefan nodded his head in understanding and patted Damon on the back for comfort. Damon just shrugged him off. He didn’t want Stefan’s sympathy. He just wanted to go to his room, take a shower and wallow in his own self pity. He might even go out later and find a pretty girl to feed on. There was nothing like a full belly to put things in perspective. 

Walking away from Stefan and the computer screen that no longer had Bonnies face on it, he headed to his room. The look that Elena gave him as he walked passed, did not go unnoticed. He knew he could be expecting a visit from her in the near future. 

* * *

The future came even quicker than he expected. Elena was waiting for him in the doorway of his bedroom when he walked out of his en suite bathroom in nothing but a pair of dark black jeans that hung low on his hips and a towel soaking up the water from his jet-black hair. He glanced over in her direction, but said nothing. She was biting her lower lip and fidgeting nervously. Damon had to look away from her to keep his body from reacting to her unintended cuteness in an inappropriate way.

“Damon,” she started softly, closing the large gap between them until she was once again standing eye to eye with him. “What you did for Bonnie tonight…I don’t know how to thank you and I should have never hit you. That was completely uncalled for.”

He dropped the towel he was using to dry his hair on the bed and gave her his signature smirk. “Apology excepted.”

She gave him a sincere smile before a look of determination planted itself on her face. “I want to make something clear Damon.” She paused for a beat. “We have to find another way to kill Klaus. There has to be something because Bonnie will not die for me.”

She didn’t have to tell him that. He’d already decided that they would have to find another way to kill Klaus. He wouldn’t be allowing Bonnie to sacrifice herself. Not now, not ever. “I sincerely hope we can find another way. I don’t want Bonnie to die any more than you do.”

A look of curiosity graced Elena’s beautiful features. Damon mentally kicked himself. Shit. He needed to do some damage control and fast. “But let me be clear about something.” He took a step toward her, practically breathing the same air as she was and continued firmly, “ If It comes down to you or the witch. I will choose you every...single…time.” 

He didn’t mean it, not even remotely. Truth be told, he prayed he never had to make a choice between the two of them because he would probably just sacrifice himself to keep from having to choose and Damon loved himself, so that was saying something.

Elena didn’t look upset. In fact, she almost looked flattered. Her and Bonnie were definitely polar opposites. Bonnie would have fought him tooth and nail if it meant saving someone’s life. Elena always put up a strong front, but eventually just went with whatever him and Stefan came up with. He wasn’t saying it was a bad thing, he was just pointing out their differences.

She gave him a small smile and said softly, “Goodnight Damon.”

He gave her a small nod and replied, “Goodnight Elena.”

She walked out of his room and left him to his thoughts. Thoughts that ventured very quickly to a certain witch hauled up in a creepy basement with nothing but little Gilbert to keep her company. Making a split second decision, he grabbed a black shirt from his closet and threw it on. He slipped into his black boots and snatched his leather jacket off the back of the chair and draped it on. Grabbing his keys off his nightstand, he headed downstairs and out of the boarding house. He had a witch to visit.

* * *

Damon entered the basement of the witches house as quietly as possible. He could tell when he was outside that both Bonnie and Jeremy were sound asleep and he didn’t want to wake them. The candles he set up were still burning, giving the room an eerie glow. He looked over at the sleeping couple. This was the second time in recent history that he got the benefit of seeing them all cuddled up together, him lying on his back with his arm wrapped tightly around her and her head resting on his chest with her hand laying over his heart, looking as peaceful as they did the first time. 

He’d do almost anything to be the one she was lying next to, to be the one with his arm wrapped around her and her head resting on his chest, but he knew he could never be that guy for her. She would never want him to be and he couldn’t say he could blame her.

He watched them for a few moments longer, fully acknowledging how creepy he looked, but not caring in the least. Sighing in relief at having seen her in person, alive and well, he turned on his heels and quietly walked out of the basement and out of the house, never noticing the pair of emerald green eyes that had opened and watched him leave.

“Damon!”

A very soft, very recognizable voice stopped him in his track. He had no idea how she was able to follow him without his knowing. He must have been so deep in thought that his vampire senses were taking a back seat. For the second time that night, he mentally kicked himself. How the hell was he supposed to explain to her why he was here without looking suspicious? Resigning himself to his fate, he turned around slowly to face the pretty witch.

“Bonnie.” He said simply.

She had changed out of her tiny 60s dress and into a more practical t-shirt and sweatpants combo with a cardigan sweater to finish the comfortable look. She wrapped the sweater she was wearing around her body to protect herself from the cool night air and walked towards him. “Damon.” She paused as she stood in front of him. “What are you doing here?” 

She was considerably smaller than Elena so she had to look up at him to look him in the eyes. Damon found her tiny frame sexy and alluring. She could be picked up easily and tossed around with no effort at all. His gums itched just thinking about it. 

Bonnie looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer. She couldn’t help but be curious as to why Damon had shown up at the witches house so late. There’s no way he had come to check on her, that would mean he cared and he couldn't care about her. Could he?

Putting his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and schooling his features, so as to not let her in on his inner turmoil, he tried like hell to come up with a good enough excuse to explain his showing up here in the middle of the night unannounced. Think Damon, think. He racked his brain and then it came to him. He had the perfect excuse.

“Elena; she wanted me to check up on you. Even though she saw you earlier, she was still worried.” He hoped he sounded convincing and judging by the way that Bonnie’s face fell, he assumed it worked. He had to admit, his interest was peaked by how upset she looked for a second. He wondered if she was hoping he had come to check on her for himself.

Bonnie would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't slightly upset when Damon said he was there because of Elena, but she wasn't surprised. It always came to back to Elena. She loved Elena like a sister, but sometimes it would be nice to be as important as she was to everyone. It would always be Elena, then Bonnie. Always, and that hurt her more than she cared to admit.

She gained her composure and said, “Elena, of course.” She nodded. “Well, tell her thank you and that I'm fine.”

The corner of his mouth raised in a crooked smile. “Of course. I’ll tell her.” 

They stared at one another awkwardly for a moment before Damon decided to put himself out of his misery. “Well…you need your rest. Goodnight Bonnie.”

“Goodnight Damon.”

She looked as though she wanted to say more, but thought better of it. Damon took that as his cue and with one final nod of his head turned to leave.

“Damon wait!”

He sighed. He really just wanted to leave. Being so close to her and not being able to touch her was excruciating. He turned to face her again though and waited for her to speak.

She cleared her throat and moistened her lips with her tongue. A motion that Damon’s eyes zeroed in on before forcing his eyes back to hers.

“Damon…I just wanted to say thank you.” She swallowed and took in a deep breath. “If it wasn’t for you and your idea, I would most certainly be dead right now. So…thank you.” She didn’t wait around for his response. She just turned on her heels and made a beeline back to the house. 

“My pleasure,” Damon said, too quietly for her retreating form to hear. He stood there until she was safely back in the house and listened as she made her way to the basement, where he knew she had curled back up next to Jeremy and would soon drift off to sleep peacefully. 

He would never know that Bonnie’s dreams that night consisted of pale skin and ice-blue eyes. He would never know that she woke up more times that night than she could count because her body was on fire due to the inappropriate manner of her dreams. He would never know that she had to remove her body from Jeremy’s because she was ashamed to be dreaming of a man that wasn’t her boyfriend. He would never know, no one ever would.

Damon checked the time on his phone and deduced that there was still plenty of time to head to some seedy bar on the outskirts of town and pick up a pretty brunette to sate his hunger, for both blood and the more baser of human and vampire needs alike; sex. Between Elena and Bonnie, his body was in serious need of release and never being one to deny himself, he fully intended to find it.

He climbed into his Camaro on a mission and in a considerably better mood. Putting the key in the ignition and turning the car on, he wondered what the odds would be of him finding both Bonnie and Elena look alikes tonight and getting them both in bed. He chuckled to himself at his twisted thoughts and sped down the road. No time like the present to find out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter and the next one, both tag 2x19, 2x20, 2x21, and 2x22. I had planned to make it all one chapter, but again, it was becoming too long. I find that when I feel a chapter is getting too long, I try to rush it and then the quality is lacking and that's the last thing I want. Also, Andie does not exist in my story. At least not yet. She might make an appearance later. I haven't decided. Thank you all again for reviewing, bookmarking and leaving kudos on my little story. It means the world to me.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Bonnie would have been in 2x19 and 2x20. I mean seriously. What the frack!?

"I'm going to kill her!" Damon roared angrily, while listening in on the phone conversation between Stefan and Elena. He rubbed his palm down his face and took in a long drawn out breath, trying to calm himself. He couldn't believe she had un-daggered Elijah. No, he took that back, he could believe it. She had a really bad habit of doing some really dumb things. All in the name of doing what was right and trusting people. Damon rolled his eyes dramatically. If he had a nickel for every time he'd heard that stupid shit, he'd be even wealthier than he already was.

When Stefan woke up that morning without Elena in his bed, they both already knew something was up. Neither of them ever expected she would go this far though. When they went down to the cellar and opened the door to the room that was suppose to be housing a daggered original and there was no one; Damon had felt a rage simmer inside of him that he hadn't felt since he found out about Katherine's betrayal. He was really at his wits end with the Petrova doppelganger's.

Stefan shoved his hand in the air towards Damon to keep him at bay, while listening to Elena trying to reason with him that she was doing the right thing. Damon could hear everything she said and he could only shake his head in disbelief at her ignorance. He honestly didn't know how she survived with all the dumb things she did. Did she not realize that there was nothing to keep Elijah from coming to the boarding house and ripping his and Stefan's throats out for daggering him in the first place. There was also nothing stopping him from joining his brother Klaus' little crusade and then they would all be monumentally screwed.

They finally had the upper hand with faking Bonnie's death and then Elena had to go and screw it all up. Angry didn't begin to cover how he felt at the moment. He listened as Stefan continued to placate Elena and her little scheme. He shook his head disbelievingly. His brother really was whipped. Damon loved the girl, but he had no problem telling her when she was being stupid.

"Alright Elena," Stefan said in his usual calm tone. "I trust your judgement. Call me with any details and let me know what you find out." He paused waiting for her response. "Love you too. Be careful. Bye."

Stefan hung up the phone and slid it into the pocket of his jeans Damon advanced on him instantly. "You know she just screwed us right?"

"Elena knows what she is doing and I trust her-"

"Judgment," Damon said furiously, cutting him off. "Yeah I got that. Even though I think you're an idiot."

Stefan rolled his eyes and started walking away from his brother. Damon was having none of it though and followed after him. "You always go along with everything she says and does, even though it usually ends up with someone else getting hurt. Namely, one of us; or really more importantly, me."

"Damon," Stefan sighed heavily. "I really don't feel like having this conversation with you right now. What's done is done and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Well I really don't feel like having to clean up another one of your girlfriends messes, but here we are."

"She'll handle it Damon."

"I'm sure she will Stefan." He said, grabbing his favorite leather jacket off the back of the couch and shrugging it on. "and I'm sure we'll all pay the price for it."

Stefan narrowed his eyes as he watched Damon grab his keys. "Where are you going?" Stefan asked before Damon could leave the boarding house.

"To do some damage control," Damon said dismissively.

"Damon," Stefan drew out with a warning tone.

Damon paused mid step and turned to face his brother with a sickeningly sweet smile and said, "Don't worry little brother, I'll leave Elena and Elijah alone. Like you said, nothing can be done about that now. I do however, have to figure out a way to get us ahead of the game again and I'm pretty sure I know just the thing."

"Just don't do anything stupid Damon," Stefan spat out.

Damon chuckled, appreciating the irony. "Elena's already filled that quota for the day."

Stefan rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything in defense of his girlfriend, his cellphone rang. Pulling the device out of his pants pocket, he eyed the screen before answering it. Knowing they were both hoping it was news from Elena, Stefan shook his head slightly and said, "It's Jenna." He swiped his finger across the screen to answer the call and put the phone to his ear. "Hey Jenna, what's up?"

Damon listened in on the conversation, which basically consisted of Jenna wondering why Elena wanted her to stay away from Alaric and telling Stefan she was planning on meeting him at the grille later.

"Jenna, don't meet Alaric at the grille," Stefan commanded firmly. " I'm coming over right now to explain everything."

Stefan was already heading out the door before he hung up the phone. Damon followed since he had already planned to head out, but headed in the direction of his own car instead of Stefan's.

"You're really not going to help me with this?" Stefan called after Damon when he notice his brother wasn't following him.

"Nah, you've got it little brother," Damon answered with a smirk. "Elena and her family are your problem today. I've got other things to do."

Shaking his head in aggravation, Stefan scoffed. "Unbelievable."

Damon merely winked at him, climbed into his Camaro, carefully shut the door-he loved his car- started the ignition and drove off. Jenna's phone call couldn't have come at a more opportune moment. He knew Alaric/Klaus would be out of Ric's apartment, giving Damon the perfect opportunity to head over there and confirm the suspicion he has had for awhile. "Time to go rogue," he said out loud to no one. He only wished he had his usual sidekick with him to tag along, but she was hauled up in a creepy basement in the middle of nowhere, hiding from Klaus and all of his minions.

Damon could easily admit that he missed the green-eyed beauty already. As much as he use to detest her presence, she was still always the one that he got saddled with since they knew how to get shit done. Now, however, he would do almost anything to have her riding shotgun in his Camaro, getting on his nerves with her cute little arguments. It wasn't lost on him that the thing about her he use to hate the most-her smart mouth-he now found cute and endearing.

Damon shook his head in annoyance. God help him, he was going to turn into his brother. He grimaced at the thought. He really needed to get his shit together. He refused to be whipped. Not by Elena, Bonnie or anyone. That wasn't who he was and he would never allow it.

Drumming his hands on the steering wheel as he drove to his destination, he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing. She'd been stuck at the witches house longer than anyone should have to be, with little Gilbert no less. That thought alone was enough to make him cringe. He would never understand what a girl like Bonnie could possibly see in the boy-child that was Elena's little brother. Maybe he'd give her a quick call. Just to make sure she was safe. That was a good enough reason. No one could fault him for that.

With one hand on the wheel, he pulled his phone out of his jacket and found Bonnie's number. Frowning, he winced at the name he had given her in his contacts. It rhymed with "the witch" but with a B. Yeah he'd have to change that. He tapped on her number and held the phone up to his ear. It rang a few times. He conceded that she was probably wondering why he was calling her and debating on whether or not to answer. He waited patiently, knowing her curiosity would take over and she would pick up. Absent-mindedly he wondered what she had his name under in her contacts. He chuckled knowing that it was probably just as bad or even worse than what he had her under.

_"Damon?"_ Bonnie answered in question.

He smirked, "Hey Judgy. What's up?" He asked conversationally.

_"Damon, why are you calling me? Did something happen?"_ Her voice rose an octave as panic set in. _"God did something happen to Elena?"_

Damon chuckled and rolled his eyes. She would never change. "Elena's fine judgy. She's stupid, but she's fine."

_"What do you mean she's stupid?"_ Her tone said that he better have a damn good reason for calling her best friend stupid, or else.

"Well your bestie went behind everyone's backs and took it upon herself to un-dagger Elijah." He paused waiting for the realization of his words to sink in. It didn't take long.

_"She what!?"_

Damon nodded his head. "My sentiments exactly."

_"Why would she do that?"_

"You know how she is, always believing the best in people, or in this case, a thousand year old original vampire who apparently hates his brother. She is under the impression that Elijah is going to help us kill Klaus. I, however, think she is delusional and just put us all in more danger, but what do I know?" He paused as he heard Bonnie's hurried footsteps through the phone. She was either pacing around the basement or preparing to leave the house altogether. The former he was fine with, the latter he couldn't allow.

"What are you doing Bonnie?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

_"I'm leaving this place Damon. Elena needs me. Elijah could hurt her."_

Damon sat up straight in his seat. "Oh no you don't witch. You're going to keep your cute little ass right where you are." Damon froze. Shit. He hoped like hell she didn't catch that stupid word that he let slip out of his big, stupid mouth, but Judging by the abrupt halt of her footsteps, he knew he had no such luck.

_"What did you say?"_ She asked clearly taken aback.

Shit. Think Damon, think. He really had to stop putting himself in these precarious situations. He had no idea how to get out of this one. He knew she had heard him clear as day, there was no denying that. With a sigh he resigned himself to telling her the truth, well, a half-truth really. He couldn't be expected to just lay all his cards on the table. He wasn't an idiot.

"Come on Bonnie, I know we can't stand one another, but I don't see the harm in admitting that we find each other attractive. You're hot; sue me." He commented smugly. A half-truth. There was no harm in that.

The only noise on the other end of the phone was the sound of her steady breathing. Who knew that telling her that she was hot would stun her into silence. He wondered if it would work while they were arguing. He would have to test it out sometime. No doubt her reaction face to face would be humorous.

When after a few more moments of silence and she still hadn't spoke, Damon said, "Judgy?"

He knew she was still there, he could still hear her breathing, but the silence was getting to him. Had he really shocked her that much?

_"Yeah, I'm here,"_ she answered in a soft voice. _"Sorry you just caught me off guard."_

Damon had to salvage the situation before she came to the wrong, well right conclusion, but a conclusion he didn't want her to come to neverthelesss.

"Don't read too much into it judgy," he said feigning indifference. "I think you're hot, but I think plenty of girls are hot, so don't go thinking it means something that it doesn't." He lied easily enough. He knew without a doubt that he just pissed her off and he couldn't say he blamed her.

_"Is there anything else you needed Damon?"_ She asked with a clipped tone.

_Just to hear your voice for a little while longer,_ he thought, but kept that to himself. "Nope, just wanted to keep you up to date on what was going on out here," he stated absently, not meaning a single word.

_"Well thanks Damon,"_ she said a little less harshly. _"Let me know if anything else happens and you need my help."_

"I won't judgy," he stated firmly. "Just keep your.." he caught himself before he put his foot in his mouth again. "Just stay there, ok?" But it wasn't a question and she had damn well better realize that or he'd make her regret it. The last thing he needed was her leaving that house and pulling an Elena by doing something stupid and putting her life in danger. He was working too hard to make sure she came out of this unscathed and he'd be damned if she ruined it by being herself and not caring about her own safety.

_"Damon, you can't tell me what to do."_

He snorted unceremoniously, "Keep telling yourself that judgy."

She scoffed audibly. _"Damon…"_

He tuned whatever little tirade she was about to go on out when he realized he finally made it to Ric's apartment building. He continued to drive to a side street, so as not to draw any unwanted attention to himself, and parked his car.

"Sorry Bon, got to go," he said abruptly, but after a split second he added resolutely, leaving no room for argument. "Don't leave that basement Bonnie. I mean it." He pushed the end call button on his phone before she could argue and exited his car. He looked up at his best friends apartment building and already had a pretty good idea of what or more likely, whom was awaiting him on the inside.

* * *

Damon seriously hoped that giving Katherine that vervain wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass, but only time would tell. At least now she owed him one and in Damon's humble opinion, he could never have too many people owing him one.

Walking into the boarding house he stopped short as he realized that Jenna was there and she was crying frantically in Elena's arms. Damon figured it was safe to assume she knew everything now. Happy that Elena was back and in one piece, even though he'd like to ring her neck, he rolled his eyes and gave them a wide birth; he hated all that sentimental bull crap. He sauntered over to the bar to pour himself a drink. He desperately needed one after having to talk to Katherine.

"Where have you been?" Stefan asked conversationally, while standing up from his seat on the couch and walking over to him.

Damon noted the slight bite to his tone and groaned inwardly. He downed his bourbon and poured himself another glass, he knew he needed to be intoxicated for this conversation. "Don't worry about it brother," he said calmly, giving Stefan a pat on the back. "You had your mission today and I had mine."

"What does that mean Damon?"

Before Damon had the chance to give his brother a smart ass answer, he was halted, by Elena who was walking toward the front door. Damon sped over to her and blocked her path. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to Elijah, Damon." She answered while trying to get around him.

Damon scoffed. "I don't think so." He grabbed her arm, a little rougher than he intended, but he was pissed. The stubborn ass women in his life were going to be the death of him.

"Let her go Damon," Stefan said angrily.

"She's back and she's safe Stefan," he spat out just as angrily. "Do you really want to let her go back to that smug asshole?"

Stefan grabbed on to the hand Damon was holding her arm with and forcibly removed it from her. "It's not our choice Damon."

Elena tried to move quickly while they were both distracted, but Damon was having none of it. "Don't walk out of this house Elena," he yelled infuriated. He really was the only one with any common sense around here.

Stefan grabbed Damon's arm roughly, forcing his brother to face him. "Back off Damon."

Enraged by the audacity of his younger and much weaker brother, Damon let Elena leave. "Remove your hand from my arm little brother," Damon seethed through clenched teeth. "Or I will remove it for you."

The tension in the room was palpable while the brother's had their stare down. For over a century and a half they have been at each others throats, threats of killing one another on their tongues every other day. Damon had no desire to kill his little brother however, but damn if Stefan didn't push him enough to really consider it sometimes.

Damon raised his eyebrows expectantly when Stefan still had a hold on him. Sighing, but never moving his eyes away from Damon's, Stefan removed his hand. Damon shouldered passed him and headed to the freezer they kept their blood-bags in. If he didn't get blood soon, he would be forced to go out and rip the throat out of the first person he sees and drain them dry and nobody wanted that.

"Elena is her own person Damon, you can't control her." Stefan said to Damon's back. He paused contemplating his next words. "Anymore than you can control Bonnie."

Damon froze mid-step, barely containing his rage. He turned to face his brother and muttered dangerously, "Leave the witch out of this Stefan."

"Did I strike a nerve Damon?" Stefan asked, sauntering casually toward him until they were face to face. "Bringing up someone that you care about?"

Damon's jaw clenched. "Is there a point you're trying to get at little brother? Or are you just trying to piss me off?"

"You know, I just can't help but think that if you spent more time worrying about Bonnie and less time worrying about my girlfriend, you might actually have a shot with her." Stefan paused and seemed to think about that for a second and then shook his head. "Then again, Bonnie would never go for someone like you. She's not into controlling assholes."

Damon didn't even think before his fist connected to Stefan's face. The force behind it knocking Stefan back several feet into the closest wall, putting a noticeable hole in it. Stefan was nonplussed and shook it off easily. He stalked toward his brother fangs bared, grabbed him by his shirt and tossed him into another wall, knocking everything that adorned the wall to the ground. Damon jumped onto his feet in a swift motion, bared his fangs and snarled menacingly. He advanced on Stefan quickly, with one hand gripping Stefan's shirt, he balled the other hand into a fist and proceeded to punch his little brother in the face over and over again. After a moment of the continuous pummeling, he was vaguely aware of the copious amounts of blood covering Stefan's face coupled with the blood adorning his fist and the distant sound of a feminine voice screaming in the background.

He was considerably stronger than his brother due to his human blood diet. Stefan could never beat him in a fight and Damon was taking full advantage of that fact. He was so angry; angry with his brother for giving into Elena's every whim, with Elena for being so stupid, with Bonnie for not caring about her own safety, hell with himself for not being able to keep the people he cared about safe. He was so angry and he was taking it all out on his little brothers face.

A voice in the back of his head told him he needed to calm down, this was his little brother and no matter how pissed off at him he was, Stefan didn't deserve this brutal beating. He eased up slightly, knowing full well Stefan would take advantage of it to gain the upper hand and Stefan did not disappoint. He shoved Damon away from him forcefully, picked him up by his throat and slammed him down into the coffee table snapping it into multiple pieces.

Time seemed to stand still as they went back and forth like that for what felt like ages. They were so busy taking their growing frustrations out on one another, neither of them were aware of Jenna who was witnessing the whole fiasco and was cowering in a corner farthest from them, screaming hysterically while shutting her eyes and covering her ears with her hands. They also never noticed when Elena and Elijah came walking in.

Elena noticed Jenna immediately. She quickly moved to her aunt to comfort her and scowled at the brother's. "Stop it!" she yelled, her command falling on deaf ears.

"Are you quite finished?" Elijah's voice boomed, regal and authoritative.

The brothers halted at the voice and broke apart. Damon rolled his eyes and groaned. "Smarmy bastard."

* * *

Damon did something stupid, really stupid, monumentally stupid, but he didn't really care. Forcing Elena to drink his blood so that if she died during the ritual, she would come back as a vampire, seemed like the best and only course of action. In his mind, this kept Bonnie safe because she wouldn't have to kill Klaus and it kept Elena from actually dying. He had no desire to trust some stupid elixir that Elijah had that was supposed to keep Elena alive. After Elijah had told them he wasn't sure it would work; that was all Damon needed to hear to make his decision. He seen it as a win, win. Of course, nobody else seen it that way, but Damon was always the one that had to make the tough decisions, which always made him the bad guy, but so be it.

"She'll never forgive you. You know that, don't you?" Elijah stated in that damn accent that grated on his nerves, while stepping into Damon's room uninvited looking as pompous as ever.

Damon glared at him from his spot in front of his large window. He had been staring out the window at nothing in particular, replaying the moment he forced Elena to drink his blood, over and over in his head. Yeah, not one of his finer moments. "I don't need her to forgive me. I just need her to be alive." He bit back harshly, not caring that the vampire in front of him could kill him before Damon would even have time to react. Elijah was older, faster and stronger, but he didn't care. He would never back down from anyone. It wasn't in his nature.

"You are quite the impulsive little vampire aren't you? You actually remind me a lot of Niklaus in that way." Elijah's eyes cast downward for a moment, like he was recalling memories long forgotten. The moment passed quickly though and Elijah schooled his features back to his normal holier-than-thou facade.

Damon narrowed his eyes menacingly. He was just about to tell the asshole where he could shove it, when the front door opening downstairs caught his attention followed by Elena's voice. She was clearly talking to someone, but the only other voice was muffled, like it was coming from very far away or being smothered by a pillow. He quickly deduced that she was talking on her cellphone.

He didn't much care to listen in on her conversation, doubting it was of any importance. That was until he heard her say Bonnie's name. Now that got his attention. She was either talking about his little witch or to her, both of which were grounds for his eavesdropping.

He tuned his hearing in on the conversation, but could only catch Elena's side of it.

_"I don't know what I'm going to do Bon. I don't want to be a vampire."_

The sadness in Elena's voice caused something in Damon's chest to tighten. He hated that he was the cause of her pain, but given the choice, he would do it again if it meant keeping the two women in his life safe.

_"Yeah, Damon is a jerk. I'm never going to forgive him for this."_

Damon wished like hell that he could hear what Bonnie was saying; no doubt cussing him up one side and down the other, but his hearing just wasn't strong enough. He thought for a quick second and then looked at Elijah, who's hearing had to be a hundred times better than his and who just so happened to still be standing there looking at Damon like he was an insolent child.

Damon just rolled his eyes and asked, "Do you think you can hear what the person she is talking to is saying?"

"You do realize that listening in on other people's conversations is considered rude."

"Yes I do realize that, but I don't really care. Just tell me what they are talking about."

Elijah arched an eyebrow expectantly. Damon groaned, but forced out a "please" through clenched teeth and a fake smile.

Elijah said nothing, but Damon could tell he was focusing on listening to Elena's conversation.

"What's Bonnie saying?"

Elijah gave him an droll look. "I can't very well listen if you don't stop talking, now can I?"

Damon huffed, but shut his mouth.

_"Don't worry Elena. I'll search every grimoire I own to find a way to keep you from becoming a vampire. There has to be something."_

_"Thanks Bon, but I don't expect any miracles. When Damon gave me his blood he pretty much sealed my fate."_

_"Don't talk like that. I'll come up with something."_

_"I don't know what I would do without you Bonnie."_

_"Same here Elena. Oh before I forget. I know we pretty much hate Damon's guts right now, but I wanted to thank you for sending him to check on me the other night. You didn't have to do that, but I appreciate it."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"The night of the dance. Damon showed up late that night, while me and Jeremy were sleeping. He was leaving, but I caught up to him and asked him why he was there and he said that you sent him to check on me."_

_"Bonnie, as much as I'd love to take credit for that, I can't. I never sent Damon to check on you."_

_"But that doesn't make any sense. Why would he lie?"_

_"I honestly have no idea. I mean it's Damon. Who knows?"_

_"If I'm completely honest, he has been acting a little weird lately. Almost like, he doesn't hate my guts anymore. It's all very strange."_

_"Maybe he doesn't hate your guts. I mean, he was an idiot for ever hating you to begin with. Maybe he's finally come to his senses and jumped on the "everybody loves Bonnie" train."_

_"Doubtful, but whatever. We both hate him now anyway. What he did to you is unexceptable. We should stake him."_

_"No we shouldn't. What he did was awful, but I understand why he did it."_

_"Don't make excuses for him Elena. Everybody always makes excuses for him and he doesn't deserve it. He should have come to me and asked for my help. I would have figured something out, but Damon is a -do something stupid first and ask questions later- type of guy."_

_"I can't argue with that. Anyway, I'm going to let you go. Stefan wants to take me somewhere to take my mind off of everything."_

_"Ok. I'll figure something out Elena. I promise."_

_"I know Bon. Love you. Bye."_

_"Love you too. Bye."_

Elijah relayed the conversation to Damon with a cocky smirk plastered on his face. "Pray tell Damon, why did you visit Bonnie that night?"

Walking away from Elijah, Damon rolled his eyes "None of your damn business."

Unbothered by the younger vampires childish behavior, Elijah shook his head and chuckled. "So you're not only in love with Elena, you're in love with Bonnie as well."

Not liking where this conversation was headed, Damon busied himself with picking up random things around his already immaculate room and scoffed. "I'm not in love with Bonnie," he said like he was talking to a small child.

Elijah stood statuesque in his signature stance with one hand in the pocket of his perfectly pressed suit pants, looking as regal as ever. "But you do care for her or you wouldn't have bothered checking up on her and then coming up with a lie to cover up why you were there in the first place," Elijah stated matter-of-factly.

Damon was in no mood for the seriousness of this topic. He was just coming to terms with the fact that he cared for the witch and luckily Stefan was the only one that really knew, but now he had Elijah putting his nose where it didn't belong. "Don't you have something better to do? Like practicing how you're going to kill your dickhead brother. Why do you even care anyway?"

Elijah eyes narrowed slightly at the quip about his brother, but wasn't one to let his anger get the better of him. "I'm going to ignore the comment about my brother, this once," he added menacingly. "but to answer your second question; curiosity I suppose. You're so blatantly obvious in your feelings for Elena, yet for some reason try to keep your feelings for Bonnie hidden. Why is that, I wonder?"

"Who the hell are you? Dr. Phil?" Damon asked irritated.

"Please," Elijah replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Dr. Phil wishes he had my credentials."

Damon's eyebrows rose to his hairline. He only allowed himself a moment of perplexity though. In reality he guessed it made sense. Stefan kept going back to high-school for whatever reason and Damon had graced the college scene a time or two in his hundred plus years, only really caring about the partying aspect of it all. Elijah however, seemed the type to reach for academic greatness, clearly loving being the smartest man in the room at all times.

"Damon I think you need to consider the fact that you might feel the same or even more for Bonnie than you do Elena."

Damon laughed out loud at that. If there was anything he was certain of, it was his feelings for Elena. "Look, to humor you and to hurry this conversation along, I will openly admit that I care for Bonnie. It's all very new and I'm still adjusting to the knowledge that I don't loathe her entire existence, but I can guarantee you that my feelings for her are nothing compared to my feelings for Elena. I'm in love with Elena." His tone left no room for argument.

Elijah nodded his head in a very shrink like manner. Damon pinched the bridge of his nose, begging for the patience he needed to deal with the pompous douchebag. All they needed was for Elijah to be sitting in an oversized brown leather chair, while Damon lies down on an uncomfortable chaise lounge with his fingers threaded together across his chest, while he relayed the exact moment his life went down the metaphorical shitter.

"Are you sure you're not just projecting your feelings for Katerina onto her much nicer and sweeter counterpart?" Elijah asked thoughtfully. "You were in love with Katerina for over a century. Those feelings don't just go away overnight; trust me, I would know, and once you learned of her betrayal, it only makes sense that you would latch onto Elena, Katerina's equal in every way. Albeit, monumentally less sneaky and conniving. Add to that Elena falling in love with Stefan and it's literally history repeating itself, is it not?"

Damon made to contradict his entire statement and write it off as utter lunacy, when Elijah held up a hand to stop him and continued, " Now Bonnie on the other hand, that's different. The mere fact that you're intent on keeping her in the dark about your feelings for her, speaks volumes. It takes quite a lot of restraint for someone to hold back when it comes to someone they desire and care about and they usually only do so for very specific reasons, pair that with the fact that you definitely don't seem the type to deny yourself anything, it stands to reason that you're doing so with Bonnie because you either feel she is too good for you, is out of your league or merely loathes you to the point that you feel she would abhor the prospect of your affections. I'm willing to bet its all the above."

Rendered speechless, Damon gawked openly at the original, wondering if mind reading was a talent of the thousand year old vampire.

"I'll take your silence as confirmation." Elijah smirked knowingly. "I believe its safe to assume that I've given you much to think about. I'll leave you to it then." With a single nod of his head he turned and strutted out of the room with his usual swagger, one hand placed leisurely in the pocket of his suit pants, the other swinging gracefully at his side, arrogance oozing from every pore.

Damon stood staring at the space Elijah had previously occupied, contemplating his words and the meaning they held. When he woke up today, he was one hundred percent sure of his feelings for Elena, a little less sure about his feelings for Bonnie, but knew that they both meant something to him in their own ways. Now, however, he was just slightly less sure of his feelings for Elena, seriously confused about his feelings for Bonnie, but was still very sure that they both meant something to him.

Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts, knowing full well that now was not the time for introspection. He had way to many other things to worry about, like Klaus and his stupid ritual and how to stop it. Being Damon Salvatore could be very taxing sometimes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So this was suppose to be the other half of the last four episodes of season 2, but it got away from me. So 2x22 will be the next chapter. As always, thank you to everyone who reviewed, bookmarked and left kudos on my little story. I love writing this and you guys are my inspiration to keep going.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

There was no better feeling than when a well thought out plan came together seamlessly. When all the pieces fall into place without a hitch and everyone could go home, safe and sound, living to fight another day. Unfortunately for Damon, that's not how his day was going. To say that everything had gone to complete shit would be a monumental understatement. Every move they made to combat Klaus' plan was a complete and utter waste of time. It seemed like Klaus anticipated their every move and had contingencies set in place to fall back on. Damon had foolishly fell for Klaus' bait when he went to free Caroline and Tyler, the supposed vampire and werewolf Klaus needed for the ritual to break his curse. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned however, because as soon as they were free from their respective prison, Tyler had to go and shift into a damn werewolf, a single bite from which just happened to be one of the few things that could kill him.

So after fighting off the douche nozzle of a werewolf, a little chat with Katherine had made it painfully clear that Klaus had sent him on a wild goose chase and apparently already had his werewolf and vampire for the ritual, plus Elena who had left with him willingly because that was a part of their plan to defeat him. It was like they had been playing checkers this whole time and Klaus was playing chess.

The only card they had left to play was the one Damon had been avoiding using like the plague. Bonnie. He hated it, he really hated it, but she was their only shot at defeating Klaus. She would use her witchy juju to weaken Klaus after he completed the ritual, since he would be vulnerable for a short while after his curse was broken and then Elijah would kill him.

Damon hated how the whole plan working, rested on the shoulders of Elijah and his wanting revenge against Klaus for dumping the coffins that housed their family members in the bottom of the ocean, condemning them to an eternity in a watery grave. Damon couldn't say that he blamed Elijah for being pissed. They all just had to pray that Elijah truly had it in him to kill his own brother. Damon hated Stefan on a good day, but the thought of actually killing his little brother, sent shivers down his spine.

This is how and why Damon found himself in the dead witches house with Jonathan Gilbert, Elena's biological father, Alaric, who's body was thankfully no longer being occupied by Klaus, little Gilbert, who, in Damon's humble opinion, was still utterly useless and last, but most certainly not least, Bonnie, the emerald eyed beauty who was going to save them all. He loathed the fact that once again she was the one they all had to rely on to save their collective asses.

She didn't deserve the burden she bared, but being a witch had it's consequences. Most notable, having to be the one that everyone ran to when they needed something done, whether it would hurt the witch or not, nobody ever really cared as long as they got what they wanted. Those days were over for Damon though. He would make sure Bonnie came out of this alive and unscathed and then he would make sure that she would never have to put her life in danger for them again.

It had been days since he had last seen her and he hated to admit that when he walked into the house and his eyes fell upon her, his breath caught and his chest tightened. He'd missed her. Really missed her; like had to physically restrain himself from speeding over to her, snatching her up and kissing her senseless, missed her.

She was standing next to Jeremy in the middle of the room, having a hushed conversation that, of course, everyone could hear. Damon couldn't be bothered to care about what they were saying at the moment though because he only saw her and she was beautiful, stunningly so. Her wavy brown locks and caramel colored skin was illuminated spectacularly by the golden-yellow glow of the candles spread sporadically throughout the room. Her malachite eyes glistened like they were on fire and Damon was mesmerized by the flames. In short, she was ethereal, celestial. In short, he was pathetic.

Peeling his eyes away from her and hoping she didn't see him looking at her like she hung the damn moon, Damon groaned inwardly, mentally chastising himself for being so damn sappy and ridiculous. If he didn't get his shit together and soon, he was going to end up just like his brother and that was the last thing he wanted.

After giving himself a mental shake he chanced another glance in her direction, hoping against hope that his big boy pants were firmly back in place and he could look at her without turning into a lovesick fool. He easily conceded that she was just as beautiful as she had been 5 seconds ago, but he finally had his whit's about him enough that he could hold a conversation with her without embarrassing himself.

Her soft, gentle voice broke through his reverie. "I found a spell in my grams grimoire that can link one persons life-force to another. Essentially, we can link someone's life to Elena's and then she won't have to die." She looked around the room as she spoke, making eye contact with everyone except for Damon. She was pissed at him for what he did to Elena and if it wasn't for the fact that they had bigger things to worry about, she would have given him the aneurysm of his life by now.

Jeremy spoke up from his spot next to Bonnie. "I'll do it."

Her head snapped in Jeremy's direction. "Jer, we talked about this."

Jeremy looked contrite, but responded firmly, "She's my sister Bonnie."

"No." John said , stepping closer to Bonnie and Jeremy. " She's my daughter. I'm the one that's going to do it. I owe it to her. I haven't done much for her in her life, the least I could do is make sure she gets to live a long one." John turned his glance to Damon and spoke harshly, "As a human."

Everyone else in the small room sent glares in Damon's direction. He paid little to no attention to the multiple sets of angry eyes shooting daggers at him. One set of eyes however, made him narrow his eyes slightly, not in anger, but more in shame. He easily conceded that they wouldn't even be having this conversation if it weren't for him. He also knew that Bonnie would never forgive him for what he had done to Elena. Add that to the long list of things that Bonnie won't forgive him for and by his calculations he should be back in her good graces about 300 years after she's already dead.

"I get it, I suck." Damon said throwing his hands up in annoyance, hoping the change of subject would have his little witch focusing on something other than glaring at him . " Can we move this along please? Original, Klaus, ritual sacrifice. Any of this ringing a bell?"

The-everyone hates Damon moment- seemed to pass and everyone got back on track. Bonnie spoke first.

"John, I have to be honest with you. I'm not sure what will happen after Elena dies and comes back. Your life-force will enter her body." She paused and then continued with a heavy heart, "Nature is big on balance. To give a life, a life must be taken. You more than likely won't survive."

Everyone waited silently for John's reaction. None of them admitting it out loud, but all hoping that he wouldn't change his mind. None of them wanted to lose Elena, but none of them wanted her to come back as a vampire either. John's sacrifice would ensure that she wouldn't.

"Just tell me what you need me to do," John replied without an ounce of doubt in his voice.

Relief washed over the room and Damon let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Bonnie gave John a small smile and gestured toward a rickety old wooden chair that looked ready to collapse at any given moment, most likely one of the few things that survived the fire that killed the witches. "Just sit down and I'll take care of the rest. It shouldn't take long."

John nodded and sat down. The chair creaked loudly, but held his wait easily enough. The room stayed silent as Bonnie placed her hands on either side of John's head, closed her eyes and started to speak in Latin. The flames from the candles around the room rose ominously and there was a phantom breeze that blew through Bonnie's hair as she repeated the spell over and over, her voice rising in intensity with each pass.

Damon didn't have a clue what she was saying, but he was enraptured by the sight of her. Doing magic suited her, she never looked more beautiful than when she was in her element.

"Come on Bonnie, we really need to hurry this along." Alaric said impatiently with a snap of his fingers, speaking for the first time since they had been there.

Damon cut his glance sharply to his best friend, voicing his annoyance with his icy stare. He fully understood the gravity of the situation, but it angered him that he spoke so rudely to his little witch. He also, fully understood that she wasn't now nor would she ever be "his little witch", but that was neither here nor there.

Alaric gave Damon a curious look, clearly confused about his reaction. It wasn't lost on him that there was a time, not very long ago in fact, where he would have been the one rudely rushing her along, but that was before those stupid feelings had to rear their ugly head. Now, he was the one ready to snap the neck of anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

"It's done." Bonnie stated simply. The candle flames died down and the phantom breeze disappeared.

Damon nodded. "Let's go."

Everyone started toward the front door until Bonnie stopped and put her hand on Jeremy's chest to halt him. "Jeremy, I can't risk you being there. I can't protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me. I have my ring." He lifted the hand that housed the ring to put emphasis on his statement.

Bonnie smiled sweetly at him, raised up on her toes to meet him as close to eye level as her short frame would allow and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Jeremy happily returned the quick kiss, wrapping his arms around her back to hold her against him. Damon instantly turned away from the couple, fighting the urge to snap Jeremy's neck. Now was not the time for Damon to be putting Jeremy's protection ring to the test.

The kiss lasted for only a few seconds and when they separated they shared a smile until Jeremy's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp. John was luckily close by and moved quick enough to catch Jeremy's falling form before he hit the ground.

"I've got him." John said as he sat Jeremy down on a nearby chair.

Bonnie nodded her thanks and headed toward the door. Damon and Alaric were right on her heels. Damon and Bonnie made it out of the house first, meeting Elijah, who had been waiting outside for their arrival, but Alaric was stopped by an invisible barrier in the doorway.

"Bonnie, what is this?" He asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

She turned to face him and replied remorsefully, "I'm sorry, but I can't risk anyone else getting hurt."

"Bonnie, you can't do this. I can't stay here while Jenna is out there. Please." Alaric pleaded, beating his fists against the invisible barrier. He looked at Damon, but Damon shook his head and shrugged.

"Sorry buddy. She's right."

With that the trio walked away from Alaric, his screams of anguish and betrayal falling on deaf ears.

"We'll take my car." Damon said as they quickly put distance between them and the house.

"No," Elijah said authoritatively. "We're vampires. We will get there much faster if we use our speed and run."

"Umm hello, but I'm not a vampire. I don't have super vampire speed." Bonnie chimed in, giving them a small wave to remind them that she was there.

"That's simple." Elijah looked from Bonnie to Damon. "Damon will carry you."

Bonnie choked on nothing. "Excuse me!?" She blinked rapidly, not quite sure she had heard him correctly.

Elijah stared at her looking bored. "We don't have time to argue about this. Do you want to kill Klaus and save your friends or not?"

That's all it took for Bonnie to come to her senses, resigning herself to her fate. The last thing she wanted was to be carried by Damon, but her friends lives were in danger, so she would suck it up and power through it.

Damon was having a minor freak out on the inside, but kept his outward appearance in check. He walked over to Bonnie calmly. She glanced at him awkwardly.

"Sorry Judgy. We're about to get awkward," Damon said teasingly, signature smirk firmly in place and before Bonnie had a chance to respond, Damon scooped her up in his arms bridal style. Bonnie let out a yelp that she wasn't very proud of and fastened her arms around Damon's neck instinctively.

The last time Damon had held her like this, she was limp and unresponsive. He had hated it. Now however, she had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her face pressed firmly against his chest. A position he never would have thought they would find themselves in. For the first time in a long time, Damon wished his heart was actually beating so she could feel the effect she had on him because he was sure it would be racing a mile a minute.

Bonnie for her part was not having it any easier. Being held by Damon was having a strange effect on her, his strong arms wrapped securely around her small frame, one beneath the crook of her legs and the other wrapped around her back, holding her so close that she could easily smell his cologne. And she would take it to her grave, but man did he smelled good. She had to physically restrain herself from dipping her nose into the hollow of his neck and inhaling deeply, because lets face it, that's kind of creepy and this was Damon. She shouldn't want to do that.

The thing she hated the most though, is how perfectly safe she felt in his arms. She couldn't put her finger on it, but even though this man was a vampire who had literally tore into her carotid and drank her blood, she couldn't bring herself to be afraid. She could assume it had something to do with the way he held her, firmly, but gently, almost like a lover, like he cared for her and she was precious cargo.

She shook that thought off though. That was crazy talk. The only precious thing to Damon was her best friend and she was currently being sacrificed at Klaus' stupid ritual. No, this whole situation was just a means to an end, but still, Bonnie still couldn't believe that she felt the safest she had in a long time in the arms of Damon. In the arms of a monster.

Damon hiked her up higher in his arms and pressed her impossibly close to his chest. They were about to go really fast and he didn't want her to hate the experience. He found it to be exhilarating, freeing, and he wanted her feel the same way.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked her softly, in a voice one would reserve for someone they cared about deeply. He mentally kicked himself. He was talking to her like she was his. He needed to be talking to her like she was his frenemy. Begrudging partners in this little war they found themselves in, but his feelings for her were becoming to much to ignore and his body seemed to be taking the reigns, leaving his brain to play catch up.

She didn't speak, only nodded in answer, afraid her voice would betray her and reveal the whirlwind of emotions coursing through her at their closeness. She really just wanted to get this over with so he could put her down and she could regain her senses.

Elijah spoke up, annoyance seeping from his tone. "Are we ready then?"

Damon glared at the vampire, but was caught off guard by the glint of amusement he seen in the originals eyes. Damon narrowed his own eyes at the man, suddenly understanding what was happening here. Elijah thought he was being funny by suggesting that Damon carry Bonnie. Perhaps he even thought he was helping Damon in some way, but Damon just wanted rip his head off. He put those thoughts off to the side though, because they had a ritual to get to. So Damon reigned in his annoyance and said sarcastically, "After you."

Elijah sped off, followed immediately by Damon and Bonnie. Bonnie let out a shriek that was lost on the wind and the force of Damon running shoved her even further into his chest. She tightened her hold around his neck so much so, that had Damon been human, she might have suffocated him. As it was though, he was enjoying every second of having her tiny body pressed against him. He cradled her closer as he ran, the wind whipping her hair around frantically, slapping him in the face every so often. He even got her hair in his mouth once and had to promptly work it back out. He kept his mouth closed after that. The whole experience was pretty comical to say the least and had the situation been less serious he may have stopped to laugh, but he kept moving, so they could save the people they cared about.

* * *

They arrived at Steven's Quarry in record time. Damon stopped far enough away from the clearing so they wouldn't be spotted. The ritual was already underway. Damon placed Bonnie on her feet as they assessed the situation. She wobbled slightly and he grabbed her arms to steady her so she wouldn't fall over.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concern evident in his tone.

She shook him off and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on. Let's get this over with."

She started to walk off, but Damon grabbed her arm to stop her. She looked back at him with wide eyes. "What Damon?" She asked frustrated, while trying to wretch her arm free from his grasp. "We don't have time for this."

Damon's grasp didn't falter however and he replied, "Remember Bonnie, you're just suppose to weaken him. Do not try to kill him. That's Elijah's job."

"I know Damon. Now please let me go." Her gaze alternated between his eyes and the hand gripping her arm expectantly.

He finally released her and they went their separate ways. A quick assessment of the situation made it clear that Klaus had completed the ritual. Damon noticed Jenna's lifeless body laying on the ground as well as a woman he didn't recognize. He may or may not have known her, but he didn't care to dwell on it. He scanned the area for Elena and Stefan. He noticed Elena's lifeless body laying over by Greta, Klaus' witch, who was about to have her neck snapped, but didn't know it yet. He noticed Stefan lying on the ground a few feet away, with a dagger sticking out of his back.

Making a quick decision, he sped over to Greta and quietly snuck up behind her, placed his hands on either side of her face and twisted her head to the side until he heard the crack of her neck breaking. He bent down and gently picked Elena's body up and sped over to his brother and gently placed Elena next to him on the ground. Damon yanked the dagger out of his brothers back and Stefan let out an audible groan.

"Damon, get Elena out of here. Get her somewhere safe." Stefan pleaded roughly.

Damon looked down at Elena, knowing full well that a couple months ago he would have hoisted her back into his arms and sped out of there without so much as a backward glance, but now he couldn't. He looked up and over at Bonnie, who In the midst of all this, had made her presence known and was giving Klaus all she had. Klaus had been caught completely off guard, going on about how she was supposed to be dead. Their plan had worked, finally something was going in their favor and there was no way in hell he could leave her to fight Klaus alone.

"No, you get her out of here. I have to stay. Bonnie might need me. I can't leave her here." He said in a rushed voice. "And don't worry about Elena. Bonnie did a spell. She's going to be fine."

Stefan got up off the ground and stood in front of Damon. There was a look in his eyes that Damon couldn't quite place, but he had a pretty good idea of what his thoughts were. Damon widened his eyes impatiently and gestured to Elena. "Get her out of here Stefan."

Stefan put his hand out for Damon to take in a brotherly hand shake and pulled him in for a quick hug. "Be careful Damon, and make sure you both make it back in one piece."

Damon patted Stefan on the back awkwardly, not use to this type of affection from his younger brother. "Yeah, yeah, alright. Get out of here."

Stefan picked Elena's body up off the ground and held her close to him, much like how Damon had carried Bonnie only moments before. Stefan nodded at Damon one last time and then they were gone. Damon wasted no time rushing to Bonnie's side. She was holding her own though. The phantom wind that accompanied her when she did serious magic was blowing wildly as she threw Klaus again and again across the clearing. She chanted a spell and twisted her wrists unnaturally, breaking Klaus' bones in the process. She went on like that for what felt like eternity, but was only a few moments.

Damon watched her closely, fully prepared to tell her that she was done. He could see her body weakening and she was struggling to remain upright. It was at that moment however, that Elijah finally made his presence known. He walked up to Klaus who was slumped weakly against a tree. Bonnie lowered her hand and her magic ceased immediately. Her nose was bleeding and her breathing was labored. Her knees gave out beneath her and she started to fall. Damon wrapped his arm around her waist, catching her in one swift motion before her body even came close to the ground. He had been watching and waiting closely, ready to catch her at a moments notice, knowing her body was weak and she wouldn't be able to hold her own weight for long.

"I've got you." He wrapped her arm around his shoulders to go with the arm he had around her waist. She had to stand on her tips toes to make their position comfortable. He would have just scooped her up into his arms again if he thought she wouldn't give him an aneurysm for his efforts. So he would hold her any way he could to help her.

Bonnie was slightly annoyed at Damon's heroics. She wanted to tell him she didn't need his help, but her body had other plans. She used a lot of magic, not enough to kill her obviously, but enough to knock her on her ass. So she begrudgingly accepted his help and for the second time, in a short amount of time, found herself being held by Damon Salvatore.

He pressed her body firmly up against his side with the hand that was gripping her hip. Her shirt had rode up slightly, exposing a small portion of her skin were his hand lay. She swallowed hard, trying not to think about how warm his palm felt against her bare skin. It surprised her actually. She had always thought his touch would be cold, like ice. Oh how wrong she had been.

She gave herself a mental shake, needing to get her head in the game. Luckily, the scene playing out in front of her between the two brothers pulled her attention from her crazy thoughts.

"Elijah," Klaus pleaded breathlessly, unable to move, let alone fight back. "Please don't do this."

Elijah knelt down in front of his younger brother and without blinking, thrust his hand into Klaus' chest, gripping his heart. "I take no pleasure in this brother. I do this for our family. The family you condemned to a watery grave for eternity."

Klaus struggled to speak, the hold Elijah had on his heart was agonizingly painful, yet he found the strength to force out the final ace up his sleeve. "I can give you our family Elijah. I can take you to them. I never put them in the ocean and if you kill me, you'll never find them."

Elijah's hold on Klaus' heart lessened. He was conflicted in that he knew his brother was not above lying to save his own life. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"I give you my word brother," Klaus replied between gasps for air. "Spare my life and I will take you to them. I promise you."

Bonnie and Damon both seethed with anger at Elijah's betrayal. "Do it and I'll take you both out," Bonnie spat out angrily, standing up straighter in Damon's hold.

Elijah looked at her and simply replied, "You'll die."

"I don't care." She forced out between clenched teeth.

Damon gave her tiny body a shake and muttered forcefully, " Shut up Bonnie."

She gave him a disbelieving glare and shoved away from him. " We can't just let them go Damon."

"I'm not going to let you kill yourself for these assholes Bonnie," he growled out dangerously. "We'll find another way." Damon turned his attention to the ass-hat originals and continued his tirade. "If you do this Elijah, I swear to you. I don't care how long it takes, I will hunt you down and I will kill you. Both of you." He looked both of them in the eye, so they knew he was serious.

Elijah's gaze was heavy with regret. He hated going back on his word, but this was his family. He would do anything to be reunited with his family. "I am sorry." He looked between Bonnie and Damon and continued, "but this my family."

Damon's eyes were wide with anger as he watched Elijah grab his brother and speed out of the clearing before Damon or Bonnie had time to react.

Bonnie stared at the spot they had just occupied disbelievingly. There was no way this was happening. After everything they had been through. She had faked her own death for Christ's sake. Elena had died, even if it wasn't permanent, she had still died. Bonnie's rage was palpable and she screamed angrily, "Fuck!"

Neither of them noticed the large tree that cracked under the pressure of her power, until it started to fall. Damon saw everything in slow motion. The tree was milliseconds away from falling on top of Bonnie and crushing her small frame.

Bonnie stood frozen as she watched the large tree topple towards her. Her eyes were wide with fear, she knew she should run or use her magic, but her body seemed paralyzed. Then the next thing she knew she was laying on top of Damon. He had shoved her out of the way and before they hit the ground, he had twisted their bodies so he would take the brunt of the fall.

Damon now found himself in a very precarious, albeit, not unwelcome position. For the third time that night, he found himself pressed against Bonnie's lithe body. Only this time he had her sprawled out on top of him and their position was doing all sorts of uncomfortable things to his body. She lifted up on her hands, looking him in the eye. Her face was so close he could kiss her with minimal effort.

Out of breath from having the wind knocked out of her she murmured breathily, "Thank you. You just saved my life."

Deciding to forgo his usual signature smirk, Damon gave Bonnie a genuine smile. "Just call me your Knight in shining armor."

Despite the awfulness of the situation Bonnie couldn't help but to let out a light chuckle. "Funny."

Damon went for an air of nonchalance as he shrugged and said, "I try."

It took Damon a moment to realize it, but he finally noticed that both of his hands were gripping Bonnie's hips from where he caught her. He had to force his hands to not move so they wouldn't go roaming to other, more supple places of their own accord, but he just couldn't help himself when his thumbs started rubbing small circles on her bare stomach. She didn't tell him to stop, so he didn't. He swallowed hard as they stared at one another. If Damon didn't get her off of him soon, they were going to be having a very awkward conversation about the male anatomy.

"You know Judgy," he cleared his throat. "You're a very beautiful woman."

Bonnie's eyes went wide and she took in a sharp breath, Damon's words having an effect on her that caught her off guard. She had no clue why he had said it, but as she stared into the pale blue that were his eyes, she was suddenly struck with a violent urge to kiss him. What the hell was wrong with her? This was Damon, she hated him…well at least really disliked him. Regardless, the last thing in the world she should want to do is kiss him and yet- She couldn't bring herself to pull away from him. He was so close she could feel his breath on her face. She would only have to move an inch, just a little bit closer and her lips would touch his. She wondered what they would feel like, probably soft; they looked really soft. She licked her lips in anticipation and watched his eyes move to her mouth. They were cloudy and heavy lidded and she knew that if she looked in a mirror, her reflection would look much the same.

Damon was wrestling with some serious inner turmoil. He knew that if he wanted to, he could close the gap between them and kiss her the way he had been dying to for weeks. The expression on her face was one of pure hunger and he knew he may never get another chance to have her, but this isn't how he wanted her. Making out in the heat of the moment is always nice, but he knew after the moment passed that she would instantly regret it and that's the last thing he wanted. So he used every ounce of will power he possessed and said the one thing that he knew would make her come to her senses. " But if you don't get off of me soon Bonnie, you're going to know more about me than you ever thought you would and I don't think little Gilbert would like it very much, but hey," he smirked. "If you don't care than neither do I." If all else failed, resort to being a jackass, that was his motto.

Bonnie felt like she had a bucket of ice cold water thrown on her. She jumped off of Damon so fast she about gave herself whiplash. After moving away and putting several feet between them, she busied herself with readjusting her shirt so it covered her stomach and dusting herself off of any residual debris, mentally berating herself for her own stupidity. She had almost kissed Damon, and call her crazy, but he seemed like he wanted to kiss her too. What the hell? She needed to get as far away from him as possible and now, because apparently being within close proximity to him was turning her brain into dust.

"I need to get back to check on Jeremy." She didn't look at him as she spoke. "He's probably really upset." She walked further away from him, but stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Jenna's dead body laying face down in the dirt. "Oh my god, Jenna!" She screamed, as she ran to her and turned her body over, feeling the tears well up in her eyes and slide down her cheeks. Elena was going to be devastated. She had already lost so much, losing her aunt was going to destroy her.

Damon watched her silently as she held Jenna's head in her lap and caressed her lifeless face, her sadness overwhelming him. His feelings toward Jenna were based on respect for caring for Elena, but that aside, her death meant very little too him. At this moment though, Jenna's death was causing Bonnie pain and it made him want to hunt Klaus down and rip his heart out.

He wanted to reach out, pull her into his arms and give her the comfort that she needed, but he knew his sympathy would be unwanted. Especially after their near kiss just a moment ago. Any future closeness to her would be nonexistent, he was sure of it. Bonnie's stubbornness was rivaled only by his own, so she would put as much distance between him and her as possible. He suddenly found himself regretting doing the right thing and not kissing her when he had the chance, since that was most likely his only one. Since when did he start doing the right thing anyway? That was not his M.O.

He took a tentative step toward her and cleared his throat to remind her of his presence before he spoke. "You need to get out of here Bonnie. Go to Jeremy and then find Elena. They'll both need you. I'll take care of Jenna."

Not taking her eyes off of Jenna, Bonnie sniffed and wiped away her tears with the arm of her sleeve and asked hesitantly, " Wha…" She swallowed the lump in her throat. "What are you going to do with her?"

"Don't worry. Jenna will be taken care of. She'll get the funeral that she deserves." He gave her a reassuring smile that she didn't see since she still wasn't looking at him. "Call Caroline and have her come get you. Elena will need the both of you right now."

"Yeah," she sighed, laying Jenna's head gently back down on the ground. She stood up and looked at Damon. His usual devil-may-care attitude was nowhere to be found. Instead his handsome features were marred with, what could only be described as sympathy, but that didn't seem right. The only person he would ever have sympathy for was Elena and she wasn't here right now. So that would mean his sympathy had to be for her, but that was crazy…or was it?

She shook her head of the dangerous thoughts and got back to the task at hand. Pulling her phone from her back pocket she called Caroline, making sure to give her all the information she needed and told her where to find her. After she hung up the phone, she turned her attention back to Damon, who had picked up Jenna's body, holding her with the utmost care.

"I'm going to head to the road to wait for Caroline," she said, gesturing toward the direction she would be heading with her thumb.

"Alright." He paused. " Let Elena know that I have Jenna and that I'm going to take care of her."

Bonnie nodded, swiping angrily at the tears that continued to fall down her face. She was tougher than this. She had to be, for Elena. "I will. Thank you Damon, for everything."

The right side of Damon's mouth kicked up into a half smile. "Just call me your knight in shining armor." He repeated his words from earlier trying to bring back some semblance of a smile to her face.

She let out a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sob and graced him with the tiniest of smiles, which Damon happily took and called it a win.

"Bye Damon."

She walked away from him in the direction of the road and try as he might he could not peel his eyes away from her. He watched her as she made her way along the path, through the trees, until her form was no longer visible to him, but then he listened. He listened to her foot steps on the ground, the crunching of fallen leaves and small twigs under her tiny feet. He listened to her uneven breathing and quiet sobs. He listened when she made it to the road and her boots finally hit the pavement. He listened to the sound of a car engine pull up, a door being opened, the sound of two life long friends sobbing together, most likely in an embrace and then he listened to the sound of Caroline's car pulling away.

When his little witch was finally gone, he glanced down at Jenna's body and heaved a heavy sigh. He readjusted her in his arms and winced in discomfort. The pain in his side wasn't bad, a dull ache really, but it sure was annoying. He shoved those thoughts away for the time being and focused on Bonnie and their near kiss. Why in the hell hadn't he kissed her? He was an idiot, that's why. He'd be kicking himself for his stupidity for however long he had left. He suddenly regretted not ripping Tyler Lockwood's heart out when he had the chance. Stupid fucking werewolf.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the longer than usual wait, but hopefully the length of this chapter makes up for it. I also wanted to address the fact that I didn't realize until after I wrote Damons bite being on his side that it was actually on his arm. It worked for my story though so I kept it. As always thank you to everyone who reviewed, bookmarked and left kudos on my little story. It means the world to me and keeps me writing. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Damon knocked on the front door; it was green, like her eyes. It was an odd feeling honestly, he didn’t go too many places where he had to knock. Most houses he already had an invitation so he could come and go as he pleased, this house however, remained impenetrable. He knew that he would never get an invitation either. She would probably look at him like he was crazy when she opened the door and seen it was him standing on her front porch, but he had to see her, had to speak to her, one last time. 

A feeling of nausea crept through his stomach and up to his throat. He forced the feeling away. The last thing he wanted was to vomit blood all over her front porch. He was getting weaker though. He placed his hand on the door frame to steady himself and help hold his body upright.

She hadn’t answered the door yet and his body was getting impatient. He knew she was home, he had parked his Camaro behind her ridiculously small Prius in the driveway and he could hear the steady beating of her heart coming from somewhere in the house. He needed her to move her cute little ass cause he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand there without collapsing. This whole werewolf bite thing was a royal pain in his ass. 

He knocked again, slightly harder this time, he figured she was probably still asleep. It was pretty early for a Saturday morning, but he would stand there and knock on her door until she answered. It wasn’t like he had to worry about her dad answering the door because he was never home. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did. Honestly, what was it with the parents in this town? If only he knew what his little girl was up to while he was away. Risking her life everyday for her friends. Maybe he’d stick around more…or maybe he wouldn’t.

The sound of footsteps running down stairs, pulled him away from his reverie. There was a window in the door large enough to see the person on either side of it. There were curtains covering the window, but they were white and not very thick, so Damon could still see the silhouette of her small frame walking toward the door. He noticed her steps faltered when she caught sight of who was on her porch. 

Damon swallowed hard, unsure of what her reaction would be. He prepared himself to have to beg her to open the door. He wasn’t usually one for begging, but if it meant that he could talk to her one more time he would.

“You know I can see you little witch.” His voice was weak and raspy. He cleared his throat in an attempt to bring back his usual timbre.

She stood a few feet away from the door that she hadn’t yet opened, so when she spoke, she raised her voice slightly even though she knew Damon could hear her just fine. “What are you doing here Damon?” Her tone was hesitant, but not out of fear. 

“I just want to talk to you Bonnie.” He pleaded, hoping she would take pity on him just one last time. 

“Talk to me about what?” She asked, trying hard to keep the curiosity for why he was at her house out of her voice.

Damon sighed. “Please open the door. I’m not going to try and hurt you or anything.”

Bonnie snorted. A sound that should have been unattractive, but she somehow made it sound cute. “As if you could,” she stated confidently.

Damon chuckled and then winced in pain, grabbing at his side. Bonnie must have noticed something was off because she rushed to the door and swung it open, but remained on the inside of her house.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” 

He was annoyed with himself. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. When he had decided to show up at her house, he had had no intention of letting her know what was going on with him. That was just his luck though. Gritting his teeth, he stood up straight and removed his hand from his side. “I’m fine, just a little pain in my side is all.” 

Getting his first good look at her, his breathing faltered and he swallowed hard. He had seen Bonnie in many states of dress before, but never like this. Anyone who looked at her could easily tell she had just gotten out of bed. Her face was clean of any make-up and her hair was pulled up in some crazy lopsided concoction on the top of her head. Wisps of curls fell around her heart-shaped face in a way that made her look even more beautiful than usual. She wasn’t the type to wear her hair up often or go without make-up, as a matter of fact Damon wasn't sure he had ever seen her look like this before and he had to admit that this look suited her. 

Add to that the tiny purple tank top that left little to the imagination and a pair of grey sleep shorts that ended very high on her extremely toned legs and Damon was having a seriously hard time keeping his eyes above her neck. She did have an oversized cardigan on to cover herself, but had let it fall open when she opened the door. 

“What happened?” she asked as she wrapped the cardigan around her body self-consciously as she noticed Damon’s scrutinizing gaze. The slight concern in her voice surprised the both of them. She had been struggling with her feelings toward Damon for some time now. Well, not feelings, per se, more like non-hatred, bordering on quasi-like. She had asked herself a million times when she had stopped hating Damon and try as she might, she couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment. It was most likely a cluster of events. Events that involved his odd behavior with her lately and saving her life on more than one occasion, and maybe, their almost kiss, that thankfully remained an almost kiss, but she didn’t want to dwell on it.

“Nothing serious,” he lied, pulling his thoughts away from the body that she had covered up. It was too late though, the image was seared into his brain. “Just a scratch, really.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. She wasn’t convinced. “A scratch,” she asked disbelievingly. “If it was just a scratch, you would have already healed.”

“I haven't fed in a couple of days.” His response was automatic, but they both knew it was a lame excuse.  
She rolled her eyes. “Well then let me see it,” she ordered flippantly, gesturing toward his side with her hand. 

He waved her off. This conversation was really getting away from him. “ The scratch isn’t important Bonnie.” 

“Well then how do you expect me to help you if you don’t show me?”

Typical Bonnie, of course there was no way that he had showed up at her house on an early Saturday morning just to talk. He supposed that was his fault. Staring into her eyes with a serious expression he said, “I’m not here for your help.” 

Bonnies eyes went wide with surprise and then narrowed suspiciously. “Then why are you here?”

“I told you. I just want to talk.”

“Talk about what Damon?” She asked softly.  
Damon took a deep breath, steeling himself for his next words. “I want to apologize to you.”

The sincerity in his voice had Bonnies eyes bulging out of her sockets. If there was one thing Damon Salvatore never did, it was apologize. At least not to her anyway. “Apologize for what?” Her tone was tentative, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know why he was sorry.

Damon huffed out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. A move he instantly regretted when an intense pain ricocheted throughout his entire body causing him to double over. He gritted his teeth, in pain and annoyance. He was angry with himself that he couldn’t keep it together long enough to hold a simple conversation with her.

She rushed toward him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to steady him and then maneuvering him over to the outdoor loveseat on the porch and helping him to sit down on it gently. Sitting down next to him on the side that seemed to be causing him pain, she moved his signature black leather jacket out of the way and reached for the bottom of his black button down shirt to pull it up, but his hand stopped her. 

“Don’t,” he ordered softly, while staring into her beautiful green eyes.

She gave him an agitated look and said, “Damon let me see it. I might be able to help you.”

“No, you can’t,” he responded hoarsely, trying his hardest not to thread his fingers through hers in a gesture he knew would be unwanted. “And this isn’t your problem.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Why are you being so stubborn right now? Just let me see it.”

Yanking her hand from his grasp, she pulled his shirt up before he could stop her again. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in shock. “Oh my god Damon. Is that-” She swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. “is that a…" her voice trailed off, letting her unfinished question hang in the air.

He nodded his head somberly. “Yeah.” He would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy that she seemed to be showing concern for him. The circumstances sucked, terribly, but at least he knew she cared on some level. That was something.

“How?” She asked breathily.

“Tyler shifted after I set him and Caroline free. I fought him off, but he was still able to bite me.”

Her gaze alternated between his face and the bite that looked absolutely awful. His once pale skin was now marred with what appeared to be an inky black substance that was spreading throughout his veins at a rapid pace. From the looks of it he had a day, maybe two, tops, before the bite killed him.

Bonnie felt a sense of despair at the idea of Damon dying. It was an odd, foreign feeling. She had wanted to kill him herself on multiple occasions, yet here she was, running through the options in her brain on how to save his life. She wondered if he had some idea as to what to do. There was no one living or undead that loved their life more than him. “Damon what are you going to do?”

He shook his head and pulled his shirt down to cover the offending area. He didn't want her to have to look at it any longer. “There’s nothing I can do.”

Bonnie stared into the pale blue that were his eyes, searching for something and not finding it. Damon had clearly resigned himself to his fate. He was going to die and there was nothing they could do about it. Well screw that. She hadn’t put up with all his crap to watch him go out like this. 

“We may not be able to do anything.” She paused, not liking what she was going to have to do. “But I know who might be able to help.”

Damon shook his head vehemently. “No Bonnie. I told you, this isn't your problem and this isn’t even why I came over here,” he said exasperated, his aggravation at having gone so off course showing through his calm demeanor.

“I know. You came to apologize. Well you know what, “she asked, rising to her feet in a determined manner. “ I don't accept your apology. The only reason you're apologizing is because you think you’re going to die. Screw that. I’m going to figure out a way to save your ass and then you can apologize to me.”

She finished her tirade with a cute little smirk and Damon sat in awe of her. It was really no wonder the little spitfire had warmed her way into his heart. If only his clueless self had realized it sooner, maybe they could have been something. 

He stood up to face her, his slight wince in pain not going unnoticed by the pretty witch. He had to look down at her due to her petite frame. He loved how tiny she was. Even in his weakened state, It would take no strength at all to lift her into his arms, shove her against a wall and kiss her senseless. “Bonnie,” he started tenderly, flexing his fingers at his side’s to keep them from caressing her face. “You have done more than enough for all of us. I want you to stay out of this.”

They were standing toe to toe, so close she could feel his breath on her face. She was taken back to the last time they had been so close to one another and how desperately she had wanted him to kiss her, which was absolutely ludicrous. She was losing her mind or something, that was the only explanation. Knowing she needed to put some distance between them, she wrapped her cardigan around herself and took a step back. 

“Well luckily for the both of us, you’re not my boss.”

Her defiance was a serious turn on and Damon was just about to come back with a snappy retort when a noise from inside the house caught his attention. Footsteps; he was taken aback because he had no idea there was anyone else in the house. How did he not know that there was someone else in the house? He was a vampire, he should have heard the second heartbeat. 

He knew who it was before the person even had to open their mouth or make their presence known and his blood boiled at the thought of this person spending the night at Bonnie’s. Because that was the only explanation for why he would be at her house so early on a Saturday morning. 

“Bonnie?” the male voice called from inside the house.

Bonnie stiffened slightly. She was so worried about Damon that she forgot that she had left Jeremy upstairs in her bed. She usually never let him spend the night, but made an exception since Jenna died and she knew he needed comfort. She snuck a glance at Damon and noticed his posture was rigid and he looked murderous. Bonnie’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. Why would Damon be that mad that Jeremy was at her house?

“I’m out here Jer.” She answered, keeping her attention on Damon and wondering if she should be worried for Jeremy’s safety.

“What are you doing out…” Jeremy started while making his way onto the front porch, only to pause when he seen Damon standing next to Bonnie. “here?” Jeremy narrowed his eyes and stood a little taller. “Damon what are you doing here?”

When Jeremy Gilbert walked out of Bonnie's house, Damon became consumed by an rage he hadn’t felt in a long time. He knew he had no right to be angry, but he also didn’t really care. 

Seething he answered, “I came to speak to Bonnie.” He took a couple of menacing steps toward Jeremy and asked through clinched teeth, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Jeremy seemed bewildered by Damon’s less than welcoming posture and the hostility seeping from his voice. He narrowed his eyes in confusion as he mimicked Damon’s movements, closing the gap between them a little bit more. “I spent the night with my girlfriend. Do you have some kind of problem with that?”

Damon took another dangerous step toward Jeremy. “Maybe I do.”

Jeremy mimicked his movement again. He was tired of Damon bullying everyone they knew. He could never beat Damon in a fight, he knew that, but he damn sure wasn’t going to back down. Especially not in front of Bonnie. “Maybe I don’t care.”

Their heated gazes clashed as Damon took the final step to invade Jeremy’s personal space. His voice was dangerously low as he said, “Maybe you should.”

Bonnie watched the whole exchange in a state of confusion. She really had no idea what was happening. The copious amounts of testosterone filling the atmosphere around them damn near had her choking on it. “Maybe you should both shut up,” she said loudly, causing both men to look at her.

“Sorry Bon,” Jeremy said sheepishly as he made his way to her, enveloping her in a hug that she awkwardly accepted.

Shoving his fists in the pockets of his leather Jacket to keep from connecting them to little Gilberts face, Damon said rigidly, “I was just leaving anyway.”

He made his way off the porch and toward his Camaro. Bonnie pulled herself from Jeremy’s embrace and called after him. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

He paused at his car door to look up at her, possibly for the last time. His face softened. She was so beautiful, so pure, so caring. It was probably better that he wouldn’t be in her life anymore to destroy it. “Just leave it alone little witch. Everything will be fine.” He gave her a small, but genuine smile. Then he got into his car, put the key in the ignition and backed out of her driveway.

Bonnie watched him leave with a foreboding feeling in her stomach. Running into her house she made a beeline for her bedroom, taking the steps as quick as her small legs would allow. She heard Jeremy ask what was wrong, but she didn’t answer. 

Once in her room, she went to her nightstand and picked up her cellphone. Finding the number she needed in her contacts she pressed on it and put the phone to her ear. It rang three times before he finally picked up. 

Groggily he said, “ _Hello_?”

“Stefan wake up,” she said urgently. “Damon was just here and he’s not in good shape. I think he might try to do something stupid.” 

“ _So you saw the bite_?”

“Yeah, I saw it. He doesn’t have much time left Stefan.”

_“I know_.”

“I’m going to go to the witches house and see if they can tell me how to save him.” 

“Bonnie, do you think that’s a good idea?” Jeremy asked from his spot in the doorway. “They’re already pretty pissed at you.”

Bonnie held up a hand to silence his enquiry. “Stefan you should probably find him.”

“ _Don’t worry Bonnie_ ,” Stefan said with a heavy sigh. “ _He always comes home_.”

* * *

Damon stood in front of the grand window in the living room of the boardinghouse with a glass of bourbon in his hand. He opened the curtains and the bright light from the sun enveloped the entire room. The sun was warm on his face, it was familiar, comforting, like laying under a warm blanket on a cold winters night, while sitting in front of a fireplace, or it would be anyway, if he ever did that sort of thing. He had been so lucky to be one of the few vampires that was able to still experience the sun in all of its glory. Those few decades without his ring had been complete and utter torture. It was true what they say “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone” and the sun had definitely fallen into that category. 

He heaved a heavy sigh and took a large drink from his glass, contemplating the events of his life that brought him to this moment. The moment where karma reared her ugly head and bit him in the ass. They didn’t say she was a bitch for nothing. 

Damon was under no delusions that he didn’t deserve his ill gotten fate. He had done so many heinous things in his hundred plus years that he couldn’t even recall them all. Out of all the people he had wronged however, he didn’t really regret any of them, they were all a means to an end. Some he killed for food, others for fun, and sometimes a little bit of both. 

He compelled people to do things for him that were reprehensible. Try as he might he couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering to a certain blonde vampire. He hadn’t cared at the time and he still couldn’t stand her on a good day, but as it was, he regretted what he had done to her. He didn’t like being that kind of monster. Maybe he should have paid her an early morning visit like he had Bonnie and Elena, apologizing to her as well. He knew Caroline would have just slammed the door in his face after she told him to go to hell and he would have deserved it. Elena practically did the same thing when he apologized to her for feeding her his blood and he didn’t blame her. He had hoped for her forgiveness, but she shot that down quickly. The only one who would even give him the time of day had been his little witch. Damn he was going to miss her. 

That was how he found himself here. Damon had no desire to suffer through what Rose had gone through when she was bitten, so he decided if he was going to go out, it would be on his terms. He knew Bonnie was going to visit the witches and ask for their help, but Damon knew that was a waist of time. Emily hated him and would probably dance on his ashes if she were still alive. It made him all warm and tingly that Bonnie was willing to do that for him though. He really wished he had kissed her when he had the chance.

Downing the last of his bourbon, he placed the glass on the table next to him. Glancing down at his ring, he studied it for a long moment, working up the nerve to remove it, which was no easy feat. After several long seconds, he inhaled a long, heavy breath, released it and then he pulled the ring off of his finger and dropped it like it burned him. Damon was sure it made a noise when it hit the hardwood floor, but the only thing he could focus on was the intense, searing pain that traveled throughout his entire body. He could feel everything, every piece of flesh that was melting off his face, his arms, his torso. The whole process was excruciatingly slow. He wished it could be like in the movies, where a vampire walks into the sun and poof, they're dust, but no, in reality, his rapid healing was taking over, making it take way longer than he wanted it to. He wished he was capable of passing out because he was sure he would have already passed out from the pain.

He stood there for what felt like eternity, until someone knocked him away from the window and onto the floor, effectively knocking the wind out of him.

“What the hell are you doing?” Stefan growled out, as he picked his brother up by his leather jacket and slammed him into a wall.

Damon groaned from the pain. “I’m dying anyway Stefan and you seen what Rose went through. I don’t want to go through that. Let me go out on my terms.”

Stefan removed him from the wall, only to slam him into another one and then another one as he said, “I’m not going to let you kill yourself Damon. We will find a way to save you.”

Damon had been knocked around from one wall to the next until Stefan finally threw him into their cellar and shut the door effectively locking Damon inside. “What the hell Stefan?” He groaned, trying to get up, but the pain from the sun and Stefan’s brutal handling of him had his body too weak.

Stefan watched his brother through the bars in the door. He couldn’t stand his brother on a good day, but there was no way that he was just going to let him die. “Bonnie’s going to talk to the witches and see what she can find out. I’m going to meet her there. We’ll figure it out Damon.” 

Damon scooted over to the cellar wall and leaned against it for support. “I told Bonnie to leave it alone.”

Stefan smirked. “Yeah well, you know how much Bonnie likes to listen to what you say.”

Damon chuckled, conceding his little brothers point. Bonnie did what she wanted to do and that’s one of the things he loved about her. Loved about her; He pondered those words. Love; A word Damon had only ever thought of for two different women, both of whom shared the same face, but now, Damon associated the word with someone else. Someone who wasn’t a Petrova doppelganger. Someone who didn’t look like his first love. Someone with brown skin, green eyes and a asymmetrical face that he found to be mesmerizing. He loved Bonnie. Christ, somewhere in the last few months he had fallen for the little witch and hadn’t even realized it. Elijah had been right. Go figure.

“Are you alright Damon?” Stefan asked curiously as he watched Damon look deep in thought. 

Damon glanced at his little brother, wishing for just a little bit more time. They had such a tumultuous relationship. He regretted so much of what he had done to Stefan. The little brother he was supposed to protect. He had done a piss poor job. “I’m still alive aren’t I?”

Stefan swallowed the lump in his throat, forcing all the emotions threatening to rise to the surface back to where they came from. He didn’t have time for emotions, he had to find a way to save his brother. The brother he had loathed for over a century, the brother he loved with every fiber of his being. “I’m leaving now Damon,” he exclaimed, his voice breaking. He cleared his throat and tried again. “but I’ll be back. I promise.”

Damon leaned his head back against the wall, too tired to hold it up any longer and stared at his brother. “Stefan, always the hero.” He coughed and then groaned in pain. “Just leave it alone Stefan,” he said weakly, his voice barely above a whisper. “Just let me die.” He closed his eyes. They were heavy and he was tired.

“Hey, Hey!,” Stefan yelled while banging on the cellar door. Damon’s eyes shot open. “Listen to me Damon. We will find a way to save you. I just need you to keep fighting. You have to keep fighting Damon. Do it for me…do it for Bonnie.”

“Bonnie,” he breathed out, perking up slightly.

Stefan nodded. “Yeah, Bonnie, the woman you’re in love with. If you want to see her again Damon, you have to fight.”

Damon scowled at his little brother. “How do you know I’m in love with her. I literally just figured that out for myself.”

Stefan smirked. “Well I am the smarter brother.” 

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Damon said, rolling his eyes. “Now get out of here. Go find that miracle cure so I can kick your ass for giving me a headache.”

With a chuckle, Stefan said, “Hang tight. I’ll be back.” 

Stefan walked away from the cellar and Damon tracked his footsteps through the house until he knew his brother was gone. With a heavy sigh he closed his eyes again. They really were heavy and he really was tired.

* * *

Damon wandered around Mystic Falls aimlessly. It was a warm night, the humidity in the air licked his dying skin uncomfortably. Usually the weather never bothered him. Which was why he could wear a leather jacket year round with no issues, but now, with the stupid werewolf bite killing him, he felt like he could feel every iota of humidity in the air. It made his skin even clammier than it already was. He could feel little droplets of sweat forming where his hairline met his forehead. His body was growing weaker by the second and he was finding it harder to stay on his feet. He found a large tree nearby and stumbled over to it, collapsing against it to try and catch his breath. The feeling of nausea crept up his throat and he knew he couldn’t force it back down. His vision blurred, his stomach lurched and the blood came up and spewed all over the green grass. He groaned, rubbing the blood off of his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Damon?” 

Damon glanced around trying to find the source of the voice that called his name. His vision was still blurry so everything just seemed to blend together into one big blob of different colors.

“Damon, what are you doing out here?” The voice asked curiously. “You’re sick. You should be at home resting.”

Damon pondered the voices question. What was he doing out here? He was searching for something, or was it someone? He wasn’t sure anymore. He wasn’t even a hundred percent sure of how he made it out of the cellar. He vaguely remembered something about Alaric and then maybe Sheriff Forbes, but he couldn’t trust his own brain right now. He was either hallucinating or disoriented, neither of which he was fond of. Was he hallucinating the voice? No that couldn’t be, it sounded so close, but where was it. 

Something was moving quickly in front of his face. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to focus his vision to see the offending object clearly. 

“Hello, earth to Damon.”

Damon’s vision finally came back and the voice slowly came into focus. He narrowed his eyes in confusion and for some reason anger. “Jeremy?”

Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I didn’t know what I was going to do if you never gained your senses.” He paused waiting for Damon to say something, but was only met with silence. “So what are you doing out here?”

“I’m looking for something…or someone.” 

“Someone?” Jeremy had a pretty good idea of who Damon was looking for, but he didn’t want to be right. It was no secret that Damon had been acting very strangely towards someone very close to Jeremy and he didn’t mean his sister. He decided to test his theory. “Elena? Are you looking for Elena?”

“Elena?” Damon tested the name out, but it didn’t seem right. He felt fondness for the name, but he knew that wasn’t the name he was looking for. Shaking his head slightly so as to not cause a splitting headache he said, “No, not Elena.”

Jeremy felt anger spread throughout his body. There was only one other person Damon could be looking for and the thought pissed him off, but he knew Damon was sick and dying so he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. He wasn’t, however, stupid enough to take Damon to his girlfriend. So he would just drop the subject altogether. “Come on, the Grille is right over there. Let’s get you off the street.” He wrapped Damon’s arm around his shoulders and slowly made there way to the Grille.

Once inside he maneuvered Damon through the crowded room. It was busier than usual due to the showing in the square of “Gone With the Wind.” Jeremy didn’t get the hype, but the girls wanted to watch it. Elena thought it would help with the grieving process, Jeremy thought it was a bunch of bull, but he would do anything for his sister. He spotted an empty chair and moved Damon over to it and helped him sit down. “Stay right here. I’m going to call Stefan.”

Damon happily rested on the chair. Being on his feet for too long was making him dizzy. He closed his eyes for a moment to help settle his empty stomach. He needed blood and all the people surrounding him smelled delicious. He could feel his fangs protruding from his gums of their own accord. He ran his tongue over the tip of a sharp tooth and then licked his lips. There was someone very close to him that smelled like ambrosia. He could feel his face start to change. 

Damon may not have all of his whit’s about him, but he had the sense to know that vamping out in front of all these people was a bad idea. Forcing himself up off the chair, he headed for the nearest exit. He had to get out of there or he was going to do something really stupid. 

Maneuvering through a crowded room when you were dying was no easy feat. He was standing in the middle of the Grille when he caught a scent. It wasn’t blood, but it was just as mouth watering. Where was it coming from though? He took in a couple deep breaths through his nostrils to pinpoint the scents location and that’s when he saw her. 

“Bonnie,” he breathed her name out like he was speaking of a goddess. He knew in that moment that she was who he was looking for. 

Bonnie caught sight of him at the same moment and gave him a look of bewilderment. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be at the boarding house, in the cellar, until Stefan got back with what they hoped was the cure.

She had done a séance to ask Emily for her help, but the witches hated Damon and had no desire to help him. When Emily possessed her body for a short moment to speak to Stefan, Bonnie had heard the witches say a name, one name. Klaus. So that’s where Stefan went in hopes of finding out the cure to help his brother. Bonnie could hardly believe it herself, but she actually hoped that Stefan succeeded. She really didn’t want to see Damon die.

She was just about to make her way over to him when she heard a commotion coming from the entryway to the Grille. She looked over in that direction and saw Sheriff Forbes pointing her gun at Damon. Bonnie’s eyes went wide with fear and panic. She looked at Damon and seen that he had no clue because he was still looking at her. 

“Damon!” Bonnie shouted to get his attention. 

She glanced back at Sheriff Forbes and Damon followed her line of sight and seen the gun pointed at him. Damon sped away as soon as the first shot was fired. He kept going and didn’t look back until he was out of the building and on the street. He smelled blood and heard Bonnie scream Jeremy’s name in the distance. He turned around to go back and see what happened, but a soft female voice stopped him.

“Damon, thank god,” she said urgently. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. We have to get you out of here before the Sheriff comes looking for you.”

She grabbed onto his arm trying to get him to move, but he wouldn’t budge. He just kept staring at her with a faraway look in his eyes. “Damon, come on. We don’t have time for this.”

This time when she grabbed him, he let her pull him along. “Where are we going Katherine?”

She stopped and narrowed her eyes at him. “Why did you just call me Katherine?” 

He stalked toward her, looking at her, but not seeing her. “You’re so beautiful Katherine. I want to be with you forever.” He caressed her cheek lovingly. 

“Damon! Snap out of it,” she implored him as she backed away from him out of fear for what he might do in his disoriented state. “I’m Elena, not Katherine. You’re hallucinating.”

Damon grabbed her arms and sped her over to a nearby pole. “Why must you always run from me?”

“Damon, please. I’m Elena,” she pleaded. 

“Let me drink your blood, then we can be together forever.” His eyes went black and his fangs protruded from his gums. He inched closer to her neck slowly.

Elena’s eyes went wide and she started pleading with him frantically as she tried shoving him away. “No Damon, please don’t do this.”

Damon’s fangs nicked her skin.

“Damon I’m Elena, I’m Elena, I’m Elena.” She repeated her name over and over, hoping she could get through to him before he bit her. 

Damon stopped his assault on her neck just as he was about to puncture her skin. He pulled away from her, blinked a few times and felt like he was seeing her for the first time. “Elena?” He asked before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body collapsed on the ground.

Elena knelt down beside him, pondering how she was going to get him someplace safe. Things could never just be simple.

* * *

Damon felt something damp on his forehead. The coolness of the cloth was a stark contrast to the warmth of his skin. It was refreshing. He opened his eyes slowly as he regained consciousness. The light in the room giving him an instant headache. As a matter of fact, everything hurt and he felt like he was dying and then he remembered that he actually was dying. 

His eyes moved around the room taking in his surroundings. He quickly concluded that he was in his bedroom lying on his bed and Elena was sitting next to him.

“Hey,” Elena said softly as she dabbed his forehead with the cloth. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m dying.” His voice was weak and it hurt to talk. 

She gave him a sad smile and softly said, “I’m so sorry this is happening to you Damon.”

“It’s not your fault.” He chuckled somberly and continued, “This is my fault. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life and this is my penance.”

Elena pulled the now warm rag off of his forehead and dipped it back in the bowl of cold water on the nightstand next to Damon’s bed. Ringing out the excess water she placed it back on his overheated skin as she said, “You may have done a lot of bad things, but you’ve also done a lot of good. You don’t deserve what’s happening to you.”

Damon looked into her brown doe eyes and felt a familiar sense of peace, but the feeling of longing that usually accompanied the peace was noticeably absent. He felt longing, but for brown skin and green eyes, not olive skin and brown eyes. As much as he cared for Elena and was thankful she was here with him, he found himself wishing she was Bonnie. The realization that his feelings for Bonnie surpassed those of Elena was an intense one. The pain in his chest was no longer from him dying, but from his heart breaking because he was never going to see her again. He was going to die without ever telling her how he felt.

Elena noticed the shift in Damon’s already glum demeanor. She wanted to ask if he was okay, but recognized that that would be a really stupid question. She honestly had no idea what to say to make him feel better. What do you say to someone who is dying? Throwing caution to the wind she did the one thing that she thought would make him feel better. She dropped the rag into the bowl, wiped her hands on her pants to dry them and then laid down next to him on the bed.

She placed her hand on his cheek and caressed him gently. “I forgive you Damon.”

His eyes softened and he gave her a smile. “Thank you Elena.”

She nibbled at her bottom lip as she contemplated her next move. Before she could think better of it she scooted closer to him and captured his mouth in a soft kiss.

Damon was so shocked he couldn’t even react. The last thing he expected was for Elena to kiss him, but he closed his eyes and let it happen. The kiss was chaste, they didn’t move their lips and they kept their tongues firmly in their mouths. It lasted for only a moment and then they pulled apart, Damon noting how wrong it felt and that he had no desire to do it again.

When Damon opened his eyes to ask her why she kissed him, his blue eyes were met with green, stunning him into silence. He stared at the beauty for a few seconds before he found his voice. “Bonnie.”

“Hi Damon.” 

She was laying next to him in the same position Elena had been in. The smile on her face mixed with the warmth of her voice acted as a balm to his aching soul. He instantly felt better and even though he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, he still asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you, of course,” she answered like it was the most obvious reason in the world. 

Damon was out of it, but he knew enough to know that she wasn’t real. His heart sank at the realization. “I’m hallucinating aren’t I?” 

“Does it matter?” She asked softly. 

Her voice was like a sirens song, luring him in, only to destroy him if he got to close. Damon didn't care, he was dying anyway. He was going to savor her closeness, even if she was just a figment of his imagination. Reaching out to touch her, he put his hand on her face and ran his thumb across her cheek lovingly. “You’re so beautiful.”

She leaned into his touch and covered his hand with hers. Smiling she said, “Thank you.”

He stared at her, his eyes moving from one feature to the next like he was committing her to his memory. When his eyes reached her mouth they lingered a little longer than necessary, wishing he had taken the chance to kiss her when he had it.

The desire to feel her lips against his was overwhelming. He had to force his thumb to remain on her cheek so he wouldn't use it to trace the outline of her beautiful mouth. She smiled at him coyly, like she knew what he was thinking, forcing Damon to move on to what was more important. “There’s so much I want to say to you.”

She shrugged the shoulder she wasn't lying on slightly and said, “Then say it.”

He took in as deep a breath as his lungs would allow and released it as he spoke. “I’m so sorry Bonnie. For everything. All the pain I’ve caused you. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could take so many things back.”

Bonnie removed the hand that rested on her cheek and brought it to her lips. Kissing his fingers softly she whispered, “I forgive you Damon.”

Damon’s eyes closed of their own volition as he savored the feeling of her lush lips against his skin. The action was innocent enough, but the warmth of her mouth seared his already overheated flesh. 

When his blue eyes opened they were no longer met with green. The only person that was staring back at him was Elena and she was giving him a strange look. He tried not to be disappointed, but failed. He would have died happy if the last person he saw as death took him was Bonnie, but fate wasn’t kind, especially not to him.

“Well isn’t this cozy.” A sly voice broke them from their respective trances and they both look toward the doorway to his room to see the intruder.

Elena bolted from the bed like it burned her. “What are you doing here Katherine?”

“Come to gloat over my death bed?” Damon croaked out sarcastically.

Katherine gave a half-hearted chuckle and said, “Hardly.” She paused as she pulled a small glass vial out of her jean pocket and held it between her thumb and pointer finger. “I come bearing gifts.”

Elena and Damon looked at the vial, puzzled as to what its contents were. The liquid inside was a dark red that looked suspiciously like blood.

“What is it?” Damon asked, trying like hell to keep from getting his hopes up.

Katherine gave him a droll stare. “Why it’s the cure of course. For your little werewolf bite problem.” She finished with a smirk.

Damon swallowed, excitement and hopefulness coursing through him at the prospect of not dying. 

Elena looked suspicious. “Where’d you get it? I thought you were stuck in Alaric’s apartment until Klaus let you leave.” 

“Well that’s just the thing. It’s Klaus’ blood.” She let that sink in as she walked over to Damon, twisted the cap off the vial, opened Damon’s mouth and poured the liquid down his throat. “Be a good boy and swallow.” 

Elena narrowed her eyes and asked curiously, “Why did Klaus give it to you?” She didn’t believe for a second that he did it out of the kindness of his heart.

Katherine smiled wickedly as she sauntered back to the doorway. “That’s the kicker. While you were in here making nice with Damon,” she said, cutting her eyes to Damon tauntingly. “Stefan was making a deal with Klaus.”

Elena stormed over to her while she asked heatedly, “ What kind of deal? Where is Stefan?”

Katherine cocked her head and gave Elena a cocky, curious look. “Are you sure you care?”

“Katherine just tell me where Stefan is or I swear to God I’ll-“

“You’ll what?” Katherine asked menacingly, taking the two steps it took to stand nose to nose with her doppelganger.

Elena’s eyes narrowed, but she had the sense to not poke the homicidal vampire. In a sobering voice she pleaded, “Please, tell where Stefan is.”

Katherine sized Elena up and smirked mischievously. “ Well why do you think Klaus let me go?” She paused letting her words sink in. “He has a new play thing.” 

“Cut the shit Katherine.” Damon said angrily from his position on the bed. He was feeling considerably better already so he was able to sit up. “What deal did Stefan make with Klaus?”

With her hand on her hip, Katherine rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Klaus told Stefan that if he wanted the cure he would have to leave town with him and be his little bestie for the unforeseeable future.” 

“No.” Elena gasped as her eyes went wide and filled up with tears. 

Damon groaned and rubbed his hand across his forehead. “Damnit Stefan. Always the hero.”

“Saint Stefan to the rescue per usual,” Katherine said flippantly. “Well anyway, as fun as this has been, I’ll be going now. I plan to put as many miles between me and Mystic Falls as vampirely possible.”

She turned to walk out of the room, but was stopped by Damon’s voice.

“Why did you bring me the cure?” He asked curiously. “You could’ve left Rics and been half way across the state by now.”

She gave him as genuine a smile as one could get out of Katherine Pierce and said, “Contrary to what you all might believe, I’m not completely heartless.”

Damon cocked an eyebrow and gave her his – you can’t bullshit a bullshitter – look.

She gave him a lopsided smile and rolled her eyes. “Plus I kind of owed you one for the vervain.”

Damon gave her a curt nod, accepting her answer. 

Katherine turned her glance to Elena and with a sincerity that shocked the both of them said, “By the way, it’s ok to love the both of them.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “I did.”

Elena contemplated her words as she watched Katherine walk out of the room and out of sight. So many things were running through her head in that moment, she was having a hard time keeping her thoughts straight. Stefan giving himself to Klaus was a major problem that they were going to have to solve immediately. “What are we going to do about Stefan?”

Damon looked at her and said simply, but with conviction, “We’re going to get him back.”

Elena nodded somberly as she studied him. He looked pensive and agitated and she pondered whether or not she should ask him the question that was plaguing her mind. Deciding she needed to know, she spoke cautiously, “Damon.” She paused waiting for him to look at her. When she had his attention she continued. “How long have you had feelings for Bonnie?”

Damon sat frozen, unsure of what to do or say. He contemplated the answer to her question and knew it wasn’t a simple one. He clearly felt something before he even realized he did or he wouldn’t have reacted to her being with Jeremy the way that he had, and that was months ago. So how long has he had feelings for Bonnie? The better part of a year? Hell maybe even longer. Who knows; cause he sure as hell didn’t. So to answer her question he said the only thing he could think of. He told her the truth. “I honestly have no idea.” 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait. This chapter gave me a lot of trouble, but it did end up being the longest one so far and I'm happy with how it turned out. I no longer have a beta, so please if you see any mistakes, don't be afraid to let me know. This tags 3x04. Thank you for all the bookmarks, kudos and reviews. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Three months; three long months. No Stefan, no Bonnie and Damon was ready to rip someone’s throat out. The hunt for Stefan was like a wild goose chase, he spent the better part of the summer hunting his brother down, but when they had found him, his brother was gone. Replaced by humanity-off ripper Stefan. Who made it perfectly clear he wasn’t going back to mystic falls. Elena had been devastated, but they were determined not to give up. Bonnie, on the other hand, was shipped off to live with her aunt for the summer, leaving Damon alone to take his aggravation out on the poor town of Mystic Falls. He had no qualms admitting that he was an asshole on any given day, but over the summer, he had been so much of an asshole that he started getting on his own nerves.

The fairytale character Grumpy from Snow White and the seven dwarfs came to mind as the best way to describe his mood. Snow white was the only person that could make Grumpy happy. So now replace Snow White with Bonnie and that was his predicament. His Snow White wasn’t around to make him happy and he was very, very grumpy.

Damon stared blankly into the dark red liquid that sat unmoving in the coffee mug on Elena’s kitchen Island. With his hand wrapped around the glass he brought the mug to his lips and took a long drag of the coppery tasting liquid. He grimaced as the blood made its way through his body.

Heating blood up in a microwave was a poor substitute for the warmth of the blood rushing through some poor unsuspecting victims veins, or suspecting victim; Damon didn’t discriminate, but being in love with a highly moral and judgmental witch was having an effect on his daily activities. He wasn’t quite sure when it had happened, but one day he woke up and realized he hadn’t drank from the flesh in quite some time. That wasn’t to say he was becoming domesticated by any means, but he acknowledged that if he ever wanted any chance to be with his little witch, miniscule though it might be, he would have to make some changes. Emphasis on _some_ changes. Damon was no saint and could only do so much.

Who would have thought that all it took was a set of vivid green eyes and creamy caramel skin to end the reign of terror he had brought upon the world. He had almost unleashed hell on Mystic Falls after Stefan and Bonnie left, but the melodic voice in the back of his mind told him she would never forgive him if he did something stupid, like kill someone and since all the work he had done to form their quasi-friendship took a turn for the worst before she left, he had no desire to screw it up anymore than he already had. So he gritted his teeth and shoved all of his energy into finding his brother, whom along with Klaus had left a trail of dismembered bodies all along the eastern seaboard and there was nothing he could do to stop them. He would bring Stefan back though, if it killed him, he would bring him back and start the long process of turning him back into his usual brooding self. After all, he did owe Stefan his life.

There was a silver lining to all the darkness though. After three grueling, torturous months, his little witch was finally coming home. Which is why he was sitting at the island in Elena’s kitchen watching her and Caroline flit around the room acting like crazy women. Bonnie’s absence had not just been felt by Damon, though he would argue that he felt it the most. Elena and the rest of their rag tag group, sans Stefan of course, were all beside themselves over the summer. Bonnie and Stefan’s absences were almost too much to bare. He was sure that Bonnie would definitely deny it, but she seemed to be the proverbial glue that held them all together.

Tuning the girls mindless chatter out and letting his mind wander, he recalled the moment he found out that not only Stefan, but also Bonnie would be gone for an extended period of time. Leaving him alone with his own devices with only Elena to keep him company.

_3 months ago_

_Damon pulled into the driveway of the yellow house with the green door. There was a second car next to Bonnie’s that he didn’t recognize, but this was also only the second time he had shown up at her house, so there was that to consider. Shutting off his engine and pocketing his keys, he exited his Camaro. He was just about to make his way to the front door when it opened and the object of his untimely affection came out of her house, pulling a large suitcase on wheels behind her. She stopped short when she noticed him and donned a confused, but not displeased expression._

_“Damon…?”_

_Her voice was soft, pleasant and void of any animosity, which Damon took as a huge win. There was a time that she couldn’t be in the same vicinity as him without wanting to give him an aneurysm, so they were definitely making progress._

_Damon stood next to his Camaro a little unsure of himself. He was new to this, being in love with someone who wasn’t a conniving bitch, thing. So he knew he had to approach every situation with Bonnie with kid gloves. She just started liking him or at least not hating him and he wanted to keep it that way. Taking a couple of cautious steps toward the house he said, “Sorry to just drop by like this. I wanted to talk to you.”_

_She gave him an easy smile that lit up her face and he thought he felt something flutter in his stomach. He mentally chastised himself for his sappiness._

_“No worries, I’m glad to see you back on your feet.”_

_Damon made his way up the path to her front porch and stood at the bottom step as he spoke. “That’s actually want I wanted to talk to you about.” He paused. “Thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be a pile of dust right now.”_

_Bonnie shook her head. “It wasn’t just me.” Her smile faded and her voice became sad. “I’m really sorry about Stefan. If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”_

_Damon was shaking his head before she finished speaking. “No, thank you, but you’ve done more than enough. I can do this on my own.”_

_“Well if you change your mind, I’m only a phone call away,” she said sincerely as she made to start the trek down the stairs with her oversized suitcase, but Damon rushed over to her and grabbed it from her picking it up with ease. She smiled gratefully and said “Thanks, that thing is heavy. You’d be surprised how much clothing and accessories one person needs for a three month trip.”_

_Damon’s heart sank at her words, which came out playful and easy, having no clue the effect they were having on him. Three months? What did she mean by three months?_

_Trying not to clue her in on his inner turmoil he said glibly, “I’m sorry you’re going to have to fill me in here.”_

_She rolled her eyes, not at him, but the situation. “My dad thinks I need a break from Mystic Falls, what with all the craziness going on around here, so he’s sending me to live with my aunt for the summer.”_

_Damon felt as if his world had just stopped. He had just finally fully admitted how he felt about her and now she was leaving. For three months. To keep his composure he stood as still as a statue and gave no response. He was trying to keep any and all expression from his features so she didn’t catch on to the distress he was feeling._

_She gave him a strange look and asked, “You ok Damon?”_

_Shaking his head from his trance and schooling his features he said, “Uh yeah, I’m fine. So uh, your aunt huh? Where does she live?”_

_“Some small town in Ohio. I’m sure I’ll be dreadfully bored.” She exaggerated the word “dreadfully” to put emphasis on her plight._

_Damon saw a silver lining. “ You don’t want to go?”_

_Bonnie scoffed. “Of course not.” She started walking to the car that wasn’t hers and Damon followed, her suitcase in hand. “I’d much rather spend the summer with my friends and Jeremy, not be stuck in nowheresville Ohio.”_

_Damon tried not to let it get to him that he wasn’t someone that was on her list of people she was going to miss. She pushed the trunk button on the key fob in her hand and gestured for Damon to place her suitcase in the trunk. Damon did as instructed and then putting his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket he casually said, “I can compel him.”_

_Bonnie blinked at him, clearly confused by his statement. “Compel who?”_

_“Your dad.” He answered simply, like it was the most obvious solution. “I can compel him to let you stay.” He knew she would never go for it and hoped she didn’t give him a witchy migraine for his efforts, but he had to try._

_Bonnie stared at him blankly for a second before she started laughing light-heartedly. She slapped his arm playfully as she remarked, “You’re funny Damon.”_

_Damon’s expression remained serious. “I’m not joking. Just say the word and I’ll compel him.”_

_Bonnie’s laughter sobered and her expression turned serious as she chastised him, though her words contained no real malice. “Damon you’re not compelling my dad.”_

_Damon shrugged offhandedly like he hadn’t just suggested the worst thing in the world to someone like his little witch. “Well the offer still stands if you change your mind.”_

_She laughed good-naturedly, use to his antics. “I won’t.”_

_Damon smiled, her laughter was one of the most calming sounds he had ever heard and he could hardly believe how happy it made him to be the one on the receiving end of it._

_Deciding on a change of topic so as not to test her patience with him he asked grudgingly, “So how’s the boyfriend doing?” He already knew the answer thanks to Elena and honestly couldn’t care less about how he was doing, but he wanted to stay on Bonnie’s good side. So he thought asking about Jeremy would make her happy._

_She did seem surprised by the question, but her eyes lit up as she answered him. “He’s good. Thankfully the witches heard my plea to save him and helped us, but when they did…” Her voice trailed off and a solemn expression covered her features. Taking in a heavy breath and releasing it she continued, “When they did they took all their power with them. I’m back to just being little old me. A mediocre witch.”_

_The sadness in her eyes and tone and her use of the words he had used to describe her once cut him to pieces. “Bonnie, I didn’t mean that when I said it.” He replied hastily, attempting to counteract her feelings of doubt about herself, feelings he was sure he had a huge part in since clearly his words had resonated with her to the point of her remembering them easily. “We were fighting and I wanted to get under your skin. That’s all. You’re an amazing witch Bonnie Bennett. Even without all the dead witches power. You’re still young. One day you’ll be a force to be reckoned with all on your own.”_

_If you asked him, he would say that his hand moved of its own volition when it reached over and caressed her cheek softly as he spoke the words that he believed whole-heartedly, but he knew that wasn’t the truth. He had been struck by such an urge to comfort her in any way that he just could not help himself._

_Bonnie jumped slightly at the touch, but made no move to remove his hand from her face. His hand seemed to cover the whole side of it, his thumb running across her cheek bone caused her eyelashes to flutter as she released a long shaky breath. He stared into her green eyes and was struck with an urge to kiss her so profound that he felt his face move involuntarily._

_“Damon.” She whispered, and it came out as both a question and plea._

_“Bonnie!”_

_The sharp male voice interrupted the moment like the crack of a whip, knocking both Bonnie and Damon out of their trances. Bonnie jumped away from Damon so fast she could have rivaled his vampire speed. They both turned their attention to where the voice came from and Damon saw a dark skinned man that could only be Bonnie’s father standing on her front porch._

_“Dad,” Bonnie said sheepishly confirming Damon’s suspicions._

_“Who’s your friend?” He asked, eyeing Damon with a look that told him that her dad already knew who he was or at least, what he was._

_“Damon Salvatore,” Damon said using the famous southern charm that had wooed men and women alike for over a century. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Bennett.”_

_“It’s Mr. Hopkins.” His face was stern as he spoke and Damon could tell that this man didn’t take any shit. He might have admired the man if it wasn’t for the fact that Damon knew he left Bonnie alone for extended periods of time forcing her to fend for herself. Father of the year he was not._

_“Damon just stopped by to thank me for helping him with something.”_

_Damon glanced at her and took in her appearance. She was wringing her hands together nervously and shifting her weight from one foot to another looking every bit like a girl who wanted to please her father, but never quite reached his expectations._

_“Well it was nice of you to stop by Mr. Salvatore, but I’m afraid Bonnie needs to finish packing.” He turned his attention to his daughter. “ We need to get on the road soon if we’re going to make it to the airport on time.”_

_Bonnie nodded. “Ok, I’ll be inside in a minute.”_

_Bonnie’s dad looked displeased, but didn’t argue. “Mr. Salvatore.”_

_The way he said his name left a bad taste in Damon’s mouth, but he had no desire to get on Bonnie’s dads bad side, so he inclined his head and said politely, “Mr. Hopkins.”_

_The intimidating man turned and practically stomped back into the house. Damon turned back to Bonnie and could tell for the second time that their moment had passed and there would be no kiss. Damon had let the opportunity to kiss her pass through his fingers twice now. He wasn’t sure he could handle a third._

_His patience and willpower with the situation was waning. He had never been the guy to deny himself something or someone he wanted, but his deep feelings for her kept him in check. He wanted to do this right, even if nothing ever came of them, he didn’t want to risk putting any more strain on their already fragile relationship._

_He knew she was obviously as conflicted as he was or there wouldn’t even be almost kisses, but it seemed like something in the universe didn’t want them to finally take that last step. He watched as she stood awkwardly, looking in every direction but at him, biting her bottom lip agitatedly, but in Damon’s already heated state, the action made it increasingly hard for him to not snatch her up and replace her teeth with his mouth. He needed to get away from her before he did something stupid._

_“Well I guess I better-“ His words were cut off abruptly by a very angry witch._

_“What the hell are you playing at?” She asked angrily, almost yelling, but not quite._

_Damon was so confused by the sudden change in her demeanor it took him a moment to respond. “What do you mean?”_

_“You almost kissed me for the second time. Why? Why are you even thinking about kissing me? And why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? Showing up at my house randomly to tell me thank you for helping you, showing up at the witches house to check on me after the fight with Klaus and I know Elena did not send you.” Damon made to interrupt her tirade with an explanation, but she wouldn’t allow it. “The last time I checked you hated me, passionately. I was Elena’s annoying best friend who could do spells for you when you needed. That was it. So what the hell game are you playing?”_

_Bonnie was so angry she was visibly shaking. Damon could practically see the air surrounding her crackling with energy, the power inside her just begging to be released. He knew that if she still had the power of the witches she probably would have done some damage by now, but her own power was still in it’s fledgling state, so no matter how angry she got, her power would remain inside her unless she herself let it out._

_Damon wasn’t sure how to answer the barrage of questions she unleashed on him without actually telling her the truth and as much as he would love to he just couldn’t do it. His pride wouldn’t allow it. So he settled for truth adjacent, but before he could speak she threw her hand up to stop him._

_“You know what Damon, it doesn’t matter. I’m sure it’s just some sick game you’re playing to mess with Elena somehow.”_

_“Excuse me?” He was outraged at the insinuation. He supposed it wasn’t too far fetched for pre-in love with Bonnie- Damon, but she didn’t know about his feelings for her and apparently now wasn’t the time to tell her. She would probably smack him and call him a liar._

_“Look, whatever this was.” She gestured between them. “It’s done. I’m with Jeremy and you’re pining for your brothers girlfriend. So how about we just go back to the way things were before. Okay?”_

_She didn’t give him a chance to answer. Before he could stop her she went bounding up the path to her house and onto her porch. She stopped before she went into the house though and turned around to look at him. Her expression sobered slightly as she said, “I meant what I said though, about Stefan. If you need any help, I’m just a phone call away. See you in three months Damon.” And with that she turned and entered her house and shut the door._

_Damon stared at the door wondering how they went from almost kissing for a second time to Bonnie giving him the proverbial middle finger. After standing outside her house looking like a creeper for longer than he should, he scowled and walked to his car, got in and slammed the door shut. No matter how angry he got he always treated his car with the respect it deserved, but Damon was so pissed off that If he had slammed the door any harder the window would have shattered and he couldn’t bring himself to give a damn. He started the engine, revved it up and squealed his way out of her driveway and onto the street._

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Elena’s voice pulled him away from his memory and back into the present. He looked at her and gave her a look of disgust. “Just thinking about how disgusting microwaved blood is.”

She rolled her eyes and snickered, noting that there was no real animosity in his tone and went back to cooking dinner.

Elena and Caroline had decided to plan an extravagant dinner, or at least as extravagant as two teenage girls could get anyway, in Bonnie’s honor to show her how missed she truly was and to hopefully beg her to never leave again, but that last part was really Damon’s wishful thinking. Even though they had parted on bad terms he still hated every second of her being gone and never wanted her to leave again and now with her coming home he could work on fixing the brokenness between them.

He wasn’t sure why he bothered caring though. He was pretty sure everyone that mattered had already been clued in on the fact that he was hopelessly in love with the beauty, probably herself included, but she would never want to admit it because that would open up a can of worms that he knew she wanted nothing to do with.

“Why is he even here?”

The blonde vampire posed the question to Elena in a harsh whisper while they stirred the contents of one of the pots and pans on the stove. Damon wasn’t sure why she bothered whispering knowing damn good and well that he could hear her perfectly.

He stared at their backs and turned his lip up in disgust at Elena and Bonnie’s best friend. He really needed to impart some well needed wisdom on the girls to keep better company. He was just about to come up with a smart ass retort when a thought crossed his mind. A slow smile crept up on his face. There was no better way to brighten his mood until his little witch came home than to get under Caroline’s skin. It was a favorite pastime of his after all. So with a smirk plastered on his face he replied honestly, “I’m in love with Bonnie.” He paused while he waited for her reaction. Both girls turned around instantly. Elena with a look of confusion and disbelief on her face and Caroline with a look of pure disdain and disgust on hers. “I’ve spent the past three months in utter agony waiting for the little witch to return so I can see her beautiful face and finally confess my love to her. That’s why I’m here.”

Damon kept his features neutral throughout his monologue giving away nothing of the truth to his words because they were after all completely true. Well all of them except for the confessing his feelings to her. His pride would never allow him to go through that just to be rejected since she was still disgustingly in love with the bane of his existence.

Both girls stared at him blankly for a moment. He watched as the tiniest of smiles crept onto Elena’s face. A smile so small Caroline was none the wiser. They shared a knowing look. It had honestly surprised him when he had admitted to Elena that he has feelings for Bonnie. She never got upset or angry, she just asked him a few questions; questions he had a hard time answering since he didn’t have most of the answers. She had unnecessarily reminded him of the fact that Bonnie was with her brother so she couldn’t exactly route for Damon, but she could understand why he had developed feelings for her best friend because Bonnie was easy to love.

They had formed a stronger bond over the summer while looking for Stefan and missing Bonnie, but the bond was more friendship than anything else. Damon would have pounced on the chance to make Elena fall for him before when he thought his feelings for her were real, but now, his affections for his little witch were so strong. He only had eyes for her. Elena was beautiful, there was no denying that, but she was beautiful to him now the way a sister would be if he had one. Bonnie, however, was beautiful in a way that made his heart race whenever he saw her. He used to be confused about his feelings for the witch and the doppelganger and who he felt more strongly for, but now there was no doubt in his mind who had his heart and he could hardly contain his anxiety at seeing her again.

Just when it seemed Caroline was about to come back with a snappy retort, the doorbell rang and everyone in the room stood at attention and then the girls rushed to the door. Caroline made it to the door first having used her vampire speed and stuck her tongue out at Elena playfully as she opened the door and was greeted by the sight of their best friend. The girls all squealed in delight at seeing one another again after three months and jumped into a group hug, Elena and Caroline practically crushing Bonnie between them what with her being the much smaller of the three of them.

Damon stood and watched from his spot in the kitchen anxiously. His fingers itching with the desire to rip her away from Caroline and Elena and pull her into his arms. He had to physically restrain himself and keep his feet planted firmly were they were or he would do just that and the way he and Bonnie had left things before she left made it perfectly clear that if he tried anything she would gladly give him a witchy migraine for his troubles. He’d almost endure the pain if it meant being able to hold her even if only for a moment, but he already had a lot of work to do to get back in her good graces since she felt like he was just playing some sick game with her even though she couldn’t be further from the truth. So he stayed routed to his spot and waited for her to notice him.

He soon found out that she wouldn’t be noticing him anytime soon however, when her stupid boyfriend came bounding down the stairs and scooped her into his arms and then kissed her soundly. A kiss she happily returned with fervor. Damon clenched his fists and let out a low growl, one only loud enough for the only other vampire in the room to hear. Caroline turned from the couple to give him a curious look. He ceased growling immediately and regained his composure, but gave her a menacing glare. She rolled her eyes and gave him a look of disgust and turned her attention back to her friends.

Thankfully little Gilbert finally released Bonnie’s mouth, but he still held her in his arms. An embrace his little witch seemed to feel quite at home in. Her cheek was pressed against his chest and she had a serene smile on her face. Damon’s heart ached. He had never wanted to be someone else before in his entire existence, but in this moment, if he could trade places with Jeremy he would.

“Alright alright,” Caroline exclaimed as she pulled Bonnie away from Jeremy. “You’ve had your turn, let the rest of us have her.”

Jeremy pretended to be upset, but let Bonnie go willingly. Bonnie laughed good naturedly and let Caroline lead her away into the kitchen. Bonnie stopped abruptly when she caught site of Damon. They stared at one another for a short moment, both donning somber expressions until Caroline steered Bonnie away from him further into the kitchen as she spoke.

“Don’t worry about him Bon. He’s been following Elena around like a puppy dog all summer.”

Elena and Damon spoke in unison.

“He has not.”

“I have not.”

Elena walked over to the girls and giving Caroline a pointed look added, “We spent the whole summer searching for Stefan and that’s it.”

Caroline just rolled her eyes and sarcastically said, “Whatever you say.”

Damon stared at Bonnie who was trying her damndest to look anywhere but at him. He silently pleaded with her to look at him so he could gage her reaction to what Caroline said, but she didn’t even give him so much as a sidelong glance.

Bonnie did however decide a change of subject was in order. “How’s that going by the way? Any luck?” She asked as she took a seat on one of the barstools at the island. She directed her question at Elena being very careful to not look in Damon’s direction.

Elena looked close to tears as she spoke. “Yeah we found him, in Chicago, but he very seriously did not want to be found.”

Bonnie looked at her questioningly. “What do you mean?”

Elena shook her head and fought back against the tears threatening to fall. She wiped furiously at the offending water droplets and said softly, “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” She wrapped her arms around her best friend and continued more cheerfully, “Besides today is about you. We all missed you so much. We even made you dinner to celebrate.”

Bonnie smiled, but Damon noticed it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I was wondering what smelled so delicious. But you guys didn’t have to.”

Caroline spoke up animatedly. “Of course we did. We love you and hated that you had to be gone for the entire summer.”

“Nobody missed you like I did Bon.” Jeremy commented as he moved to stand next to her and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

Caroline and Elena gave a collective eye roll, but smiled at their best friends happiness. Bonnie giggled and smiled shyly, but Damon had seen enough. His temper was already flaring. If he had to endure too many more public displays of affection between the woman he was in love with and the boy he despised, he wouldn’t be held accountable for his actions.

“Well,” he stated loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “As fun as this has been, I’m going to go. I’ve got more important things to do than hang out here with a bunch of teenagers.”

Elena perked up instantly. “I thought you were going to stay for dinner.”

“God Elena let him go. It’s not like anybody wants him here anyway.” Caroline gave him a sickly sweet smile and Damon was just about to remove her head from her body when a soft voice spoke up.

“Caroline,” Bonnie admonished. “Be nice please. For me.”

The smile Bonnie gave her best friend was one that would bring anybody to heel and Caroline, with all the love and admiration she had for her friend, did just that. Smiling at Bonnie she turned her attention back to the food still cooking on the stove and decided to pretend that Damon just didn’t exist.

Damon stared at Bonnie for longer than what would be considered appropriate as he let what she just did sink in. It didn’t make any sense to him. She had practically told him to go to hell before she left and now here she was defending him to her best friend. He was very confused, but decided now wasn’t the time to dwell on it, since Jeremy and Elena were staring at him while he was staring at her. Bonnie for her part kept her attention fixed firmly on a spot on the island.

Forcing his attention away from his little witch he grabbed his leather jacket off the coat rack and muttered haphazardly, “See you tonight at the Lockwood Party.” He looked at Elena pointedly. “Don’t bring chili.”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a sarcastic laugh. “Bye Damon,” she said as she turned to help Caroline with the food.

Damon said nothing else as he left the house, but he took slower than usual steps since he heard a certain someone coming after him.

“Damon wait up.”

He turned around in a leisurely manner so he wouldn’t appear to be overly excited. He didn’t say anything either. He just watched quietly as her little legs carried her as quickly as they could to stand in front of him.

He looked down at her as she stood before him. She fidgeted nervously as she chewed at her lower lip. Damon averted his eyes. It was very hard to focus when she was being so cute. Especially since she didn’t have a damn clue as to how she was affecting him.

They stared at one another awkwardly for a moment until Bonnie finally spoke.

“Where you headed?” She asked as she alternated between standing on the heels and balls of her feet.

Damon had to physically restrain himself from chuckling at her cuteness. She was going to be the death of him. “I just have some things to take care of before the party tonight,” he answered coolly, with an air of nonchalance he didn’t feel.

She bobbed her head slowly in acknowledgement and said, “Ok.”

Her continuous fidgeting and lip biting told him she wanted to say more, but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. He decided to throw her a bone. “Is that all you needed?”

Her eyebrows lifted and she let out a simple “Hmm?”

“It just seems like you have something else you want to say to me,” he continued, biting back a chuckle.

He watched the wheels turning in her head, trying to decide if she should say what was on her mind or not. After a long moment of silence passed between them he simply nodded his head and turned to leave.

“I’m sorry!” she said, the words finally bursting out of her.

Damon stopped in his tracks and turned to her with furrowed brows.

“Sorry for what?” he asked, clearly confused.

Gaining some confidence she continued, “The way I treated you…” Her eyelids fluttered. “Before I left. I’m not one hundred percent sure of why you’ve been acting different around me lately; if it has something to do with Elena or I don’t even know what, but you didn’t deserve to be yelled at like that and I’m sorry.”

Damon had a hard time comprehending what was happening. He was not use to being apologized to, especially by someone like Bonnie. But here she was, in all her fidgeting cuteness, apologizing to him for how she yelled at him and he was dumbstruck. If it had been anyone else he would have smirked and cockily told them that of course they should be sorry, without really caring about the apology, but this was Bonnie, his little witch and he felt something in his chest tighten because in order for her to want to apologize she had to feel bad about how she treated him and if she felt bad that meant she had to care on some level about his feelings, which in turn meant that on some level she cared about him and that made Damon feel some type of way that he couldn’t particularly explain. So he stood there, blinking at her for a moment unsure of how to respond.

When he finally came to his senses he said more sincerely than he probably ever had, “Apology accepted. Thank you.”

There was one thing he needed to clear up however and he wasn’t sure how to go about explaining it to her without laying all of his cards on the table, but he didn’t like knowing that she thought how he had been with her had anything to do with Elena. So he sucked it up and decided to tell her what he could.

“Bonnie, I want to explain something to you.” She gave him a serious look and nodded for him to continue. “How I’ve been with you lately has absolutely nothing to do with Elena. I can’t fully explain it, but I like you. You’re a kind, good, beautiful person and one day, out of the blue, I realized that the way I was treating you was ridiculous and you didn’t deserve any of it. So I decided to stop being your enemy and possibly become your friend and during that time I realized that you were also kind of cute.” He smirked. She laughed and rolled her eyes. “And me being who I am, figured that kissing you might not be a bad thing.” She opened her mouth to argue, but he held his hand up to stop her and continued. “But I realize now, that trying to kiss you while you have a boyfriend is definitely a bad thing. You can’t blame a guy for trying though. So I would like it if we could be friends or at least head in that direction and I promise I won’t try to kiss you again.” He gave her a sly grin. “Unless you want me to.”

Bonnie wasn’t quite sure what to do with this information. Throughout his whole speech her emotions had gone on a high speed Rollercoaster. Changing from regret for having treated him badly, to happiness for his acceptance of her apology, to a strange feeling in her stomach at his explanation for his recent actions concerning her and then finally reaching a point of self-loathing for being disappointed that he wouldn’t be trying to kiss her again.

She shouldn’t want him to kiss her, that much she knew. She was with Jeremy and she loved Jeremy. Didn’t she? She definitely had strong feelings for him, but there was always something…missing. Something that she needed, but wasn’t quite sure what it was. As much as she hated to admit it and she would never do it out loud for fear of some crazy unforeseen consequences, but standing here, in front of Damon, made her feel alive. Alive in a way she had never felt in all her 17 years. Her body was buzzing with energy, like her magic was right underneath the service just begging to be released.

It didn’t make sense. She use to hate Damon, like really hate Damon. She loathed his entire existence and would have gladly let him burn on more than one occasion, but somehow, slowly, he had warmed his way into…her heart wasn’t the right term. She didn’t love Damon, but there was definitely something, something she couldn’t explain and wasn’t sure she wanted too. Which is exactly why she had tormented herself all summer over the way she had reacted before she left. Before she wouldn’t have cared and cussed him up one side and down the other, but now, the idea of him being upset because of something she did rubbed her the wrong way and that’s why she apologized.

Damon watched the emotions play across her features like a silent movie. If he didn’t know any better he would think she looked almost upset at the prospect of him not trying to kiss her again and that had him wanting to kiss her, really bad.

They stared at one another, him looking into her green eyes and her looking into his blue. They seemed to be locked in some kind of moment; it wasn’t awkward at all, but it was charged. The air around them seemed to be crackling and sizzling, like it was expecting some kind of explosion. Damon thought that if he was able to touch his lips against hers, there would be one; like an atomic bomb going off and everything else around them would cease to exist. Damon felt like he would be ok with that.

He had been with countless women in his lifetime, but none had ever come close to making him feel the way that she does. The need to touch her or to just be close to her was overwhelming. He was coming to realize that maybe he shouldn’t have told her that he wouldn’t try and kiss her again because he wasn’t sure he could keep that promise.

They had been locked in their moment for longer than they should have been when Damon noticed they had company. He forced his eyes away from hers and looked over her head at Elena’s porch and sneered. “Bonnie,” he started quietly. “We have company.”

Bonnie took a second to register what he had said and when she turned her head to see who it was her heart jumped into her throat, but she didn’t move away from Damon like she should have. “Jeremy.”

Jeremy was angry, but he tried not to show it. “You coming back inside? The food is almost done.”

Bonnie nodded. “Yeah I’m coming.” She turned back to Damon and gave him a crooked smile. “I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

Damon smiled at her and said simply, “Yeah.”

“Bye.” She gave him a half wave then turned and walked up to the porch where Jeremy was waiting for her. She smiled at him and took his hand, leading him into the house.

Damon watched them until the door shut behind them. Jeremy had glanced back at him with a murderous expression before they entered the house. Damon had simply smirked and winked at him which just enraged Jeremy even more, but made no move to make Bonnie aware of it.

Damon walked to his car with a little more pep in his step, but before he started the engine he caught the sound of voices coming from inside the house. It was Jeremy and Bonnie. Damon focused intently, unashamed at listening in on someone else’s conversation _._

_“What was that about?” Jeremy asked, irritation dripping in his tone._

_“I just needed to apologize to Damon. I was extremely rude to him before I left and I felt bad about it all summer,” she replied easily._

_“Why did you feel bad? I’m sure he deserved it. He’s an asshole and you hate him,” he reminded her pointedly._

_“I don’t hate him.” She paused. “At least not anymore. He hasn’t been that bad lately. He’s actually been really nice.”_

_“Bonnie,” Jeremy stressed her name. “Please don’t fall into the same trap that Elena did. Just because Damon can be charming doesn’t mean he’s not a bad guy.”_

_“People can change Jer.”_

_“Yeah, people Bonnie. Damon isn’t a person. He’s a vampire, a monster. His soul purpose for being on earth is to drink innocent peoples blood and kill them. Have you forgotten what he’s done to you, what he’s done to Caroline? You can’t trust him Bonnie.”_

_“I haven’t forgotten anything Jeremy, but thanks for reminding me,” she replied bitterly._

Damon gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. He would love nothing more than to bust through that door and snap the little pipsqueaks neck, but he had to restrain himself.

_“Bonnie…”_

_Bonnie cut him off. “ You know Jer, its not a crime to believe there’s good in everyone. Even vampires.”_

_“God Bonnie, do you hear yourself? This isn’t you. You hate vampires.”_

_“I use to hate vampires, but when Caroline became a vampire I realized that judging all vampires the same is wrong. They’re not all bad Jer and like I said, people can change.”_

_Jeremy sighed heavily, but said nothing._

_“Look,” Bonnie started somberly. “I don’t want to fight anymore. Lets go get some food. I’m starving.”_

Damon heard Bonnie kiss him and he took that as his cue to get the hell out of there. He could only handle so much torture in one day.

* * *

Damon traipsed casually across the Lockwood’s lawn, being polite and waving at anyone who waved at him. Pretending to be the good guy was taxing, but necessary. Pretenses had to be kept. He was just about to head into the mansion when his attention was turned toward a picnic table that was occupied by his two favorite teenagers and their annoying best friend. He contemplated leaving them alone, but decided he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get under his little witches skin.

He walked over to them quietly. Using his stealth to keep his presence unknown, which wasn’t hard since they were all three huddled together engrossed in a serious conversation about something Damon didn’t care enough about to try and listen in on. When he was close enough behind Bonnie, he moved quickly, covering her eyes with his hands, she jumped, a move that pressed her back up against his chest, but relaxed when Damon brought his mouth directly to her ear and whispered seductively, “Guess who?”

“Eww please take your hands off of her.”

He heard Caroline droning on in the background, but ignored her completely. His soul focus was his little witch and the way her body was shivering against his , but she regained her senses quickly and composed herself. “Well you can’t be my boyfriend. Your voice isn’t sexy enough.”

“Ouch,” Damon muttered as he released her from his hold.

She turned to look up at him and couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. “Damon, out causing trouble like usual?”

Damon pressed his hand to his chest, aghast at the suggestion. “Me? Never.” His words said one thing, but his sly grin spoke volumes.

“Don’t you have a Founders Council meeting to get to?” Elena asked with a chastising look in her eyes.

“Yes, please go. You’re ruining my mood.” Caroline said waving him off dismissively.

Damon smirked at her, refusing to let her get to him. “Caroline, always a pleasure.”

She rolled her eyes. “Wish I could say the same.”

He turned his attention to Bonnie and Elena, inclining his head toward them as he said, “Ladies.”

“Damon.” They replied in unison.

Before he turned to leave he looked at Bonnie one last time and winked at her. The blush that spread across her cheeks made him smile and yearn to touch her, but he mustered restraint from his depths, pulled himself away from her and walked toward the Mansion.

Once inside he made a beeline for the open bar and ordered a bourbon. He had just taken his first sip when Alaric came to stand next to him. Damon spared him a glance and noting the other man’s serious demeanor simply muttered his name in greeting. “Ric.”

“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Bonnie, but I think you should back off.”

Damon had run through all sorts of scenarios that could have caused his friends ire, but Bonnie had been the furthest thing from his mind. He turned to face the man and asked curiously, “Since when do you care about Bonnie?”

Alaric was taken aback by the audacity of his question. “What the hell do you mean? She’s my student and Elena’s best friend. Of course I care about her.”

Damon made a noncommittal noise and said with a calmness that was slowly slipping away, “Well regardless, what I’m doing with Bonnie is none of your business. “

“I’m making it my business.”

Damon eyed him intensely. “You really need to rethink that decision.”

“I don’t need to rethink anything.” He paused and sighed. “Look I don’t know why you’re messing with Bonnie. If it has something to do with Elena. You trying to get back at her for not loving you like she loves Stefan; I don’t know. All I know, is whatever the reason, you need to stop. Bonnie doesn’t deserve that.”

Damon’s eyes flashed ferociously. “How I feel about Bonnie has nothing to do with Elena.”

Alaric was nonplussed. “Damon you don’t feel anything for Bonnie. The only person you have feelings for is yourself and I’m telling you to back off.”

Damon gripped his glass almost to the point of it breaking. “And I’m telling you to go screw yourself.”

Alaric closed the already miniscule gap between them and muttered, “ I’m not afraid of you Damon.”

Damon’s voice was low and dangerous as he spoke. “Maybe you should be.”

They stared at one another, waiting for the other to make a move, but their stand off was interrupted.

“Damon,” Sheriff Forbes began as she looked between the two men cautiously. “The mayor is ready for the Council meeting to start.”

Damon nodded at her and then turned back to Alaric. “Duty calls.” He downed the rest of his bourbon, placed the glass back on the bar and said, “See ya Ric.” Then he walked away from his best friend.

* * *

Damon was at his whit’s end with this whole day and this stupid party. He was already annoyed due to his argument with Alaric and now he had to deal with Bill Forbes. It just kept getting better and better.

He walked outside of the mansion and saw Elena and Alaric talking to one another. Putting aside his animosity toward his best friend he said hurriedly as he walked down the steps to meet them, “We have a big problem.”

Elena looked over at him anxiously. “Damon where the hell have you been?”

“Dealing with Bill Forbes.” He cut to the chase. “He’s impervious to compulsion.”

“How?” asked Alaric.

“Hell if I know, but he’s threatening to out me.” Damon rolled his eyes. “The irony.”

“Well what did you do to him? How do you know he can’t be compelled?”

“Highly unimportant right now Elena. He wants to control the Council. He said it’s been compromised.”

Alaric spoke up animatedly. “He’s not wrong.”

“He wants to put vervain in the water supply.” Damon continued eagerly, thinking that his two companions were not grasping the direness of their situation.

Elena seemed thoughtful. “Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad idea. It could help you, you know, since Stefan isn’t here to…” She trailed off, leaving the rest of her words unspoken.

“To what?” Damon asked, advancing on her angrily. “To what Elena? To keep me in check? Make me be a good boy?” He threw up his arms in agitation. “ I’m so sick of this shit. I should have killed him earlier.”

Elena looked affronted. “He’s Caroline’s dad Damon.”

“He could be the pope for all I care. Nobody threatens me and gets away with it.”

“Damon you need to calm down.” Alaric urged in his usual fatherly manner that grated on Damon’s nerves.

“You are really working on my last nerve today Ric. Back the hell off.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

Damon nodded dismissively. “How’s that ring working Ric?”

Alaric looked bewildered at the sudden change in topic. “What?”

Damon didn’t answer. He just simply closed the gap between them, grabbed Alaric’s face and twisted harshly until his neck snapped and his friend fell to the ground unceremoniously.

Elena cried out in anguish as she looked at her surrogate father’s dead body. “Damon! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Damon’s blue eyes were as cold as ice as he responded. “Nothing is wrong with me Elena. I’m just tired of people trying to tell me what do to.” He glanced down at Alaric’s prone form and sneered. “See you in a few hours buddy.”

He walked away from the two of them without a backward glance back into the mansion. Elena staring after him in astonishment and fear at what he was about to do.

It took Damon no time at all to find the object of his disdain. Bill Forbes stood in the study as cavalier as you please, pouring himself a glass of scotch. Damon strolled into the large room casually, giving away nothing of his previous countenance. Bill glanced up as he entered, but said nothing in way of greeting. He just downed his scotch in one gulp and preceded to pour himself another glass.

“Scotch huh?” Damon asked conversationally as he walked past the man to lean against a bookshelf. “I’m a Bourbon man myself.”

Bill gave Damon a side long glance and replied harshly, “You’re not a man Damon. You’re a monster.”

Damon shrugged noncommittally. “In my experience man and monster tend to be one in the same.”

Bill seemed to acquiesce and nodded. “True, but men can change.” He turned to face Damon fully. “Monsters will forever be monsters.”

“Is that how you feel about your daughter? I heard about what you did to her.” Damon clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shook his head. “With fathers like you, who needs enemies?”

Bill recoiled at the question. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but vampire or not, she’s still my daughter. I just have to learn to live with that.”

Damon crossed his arms on his chest and studied Bill curiously. “Is that why you haven’t outed us to the council?”

Bill looked thoughtful. “I would never subject Caroline to that.”

“How sweet,” Damon muttered contemptuously with a roll of her eyes. “Look I just want to make you aware of the fact that I don’t like to be threatened. It puts me in a bad mood. Makes me want to kill things.”

Bill turned back to face the desk in a manner that said he was unafraid. “Damon you might be impulsive, but you’re not stupid.” He took a drink of his scotch. “It’s not like you can kill the ex-husband of the sheriff.”

Damon’s fangs dropped and his eyes turned black. “People really have to stop underestimating me today.” He advanced on Bill in a flash, leaving the other man with no time to react. Grabbing him by the neck, he forced his head to the side and sank his fangs into his carotid artery with the fluidity of a vampire who had been doing this little song and dance for almost two centuries.

Damon let the warm liquid pool into his mouth and drank it down greedily like a vampire possessed. He took three long drags of the blood before he released the man who instantly fell to his knees. Damon’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he used his tongue to lap up any remaining blood that coated his mouth. “Whoo! Now that was a rush,” he exclaimed excitedly. “I’d almost forgotten how good it tasted to drink directly from the flesh.”

Bill covered the still bleeding wound with the palm of his hand. “Are you going to kill me?”

Damon chuckled. Amused with the man whom only moments ago was so cocky and sure of himself, but was now crawling away from Damon on his hands and knees, ready to beg for his life. “Nah. I’m not going to kill you. I don’t need the headache. I am however, going to enjoy this moment. They are so few and far between these days.”

It was at that moment that Caroline came rushing into the study and screamed, “Daddy!” She dropped down to the floor next to him, bit into her wrist and offered him her blood.

He blanched at the sight of it and said forcefully, “I’m fine.”

Caroline sneered at him. “Grow up.” She forced her wrist into his mouth and made him drink. When his wound healed completely she helped him to his feet and confronted Damon, shoving him into the wall behind him. “What the hell is wrong with you psycho?”

Regaining his balance, Damon growled low in his throat and advanced on her menacingly. “Back off Blondie. You can’t beat me in a fight.”

Caroline raised her fist to punch him in the face, but Damon grabbed it easily. Wrapping his hand around her neck he lifted her up and threw her down on the desk without breaking a sweat.

“Damon!”

Everyone in the room turned their attention to Elena who had just ran into the room. Caroline seized the opportunity, snatched her dad up and sped out of the room leaving Damon and Elena alone.

“Damon what are you doing? Why are you acting like this?”

“I’m not acting like anything Elena. This is who I am.” He threw his arms out for emphasis. “Or did you forget that I’m a vampire?”

“Just because you’re a vampire doesn’t mean you have to act like one.”

“That’s exactly what it means!” He yelled emphatically. “I am a vampire Elena and I am tired of everyone trying to keep me in check.”

Elena folded her arms across her chest and gave him a hard stare. “What would Bonnie think?”

Damon’s eyes went wide at the audacity of the girl he had come to see as a sister. “Leave her out of this. I mean it Elena.”

She shook her head. “No, not if bringing her up is the only thing that will make you see reason. What do you think she would say if she was here right now?”

“Well she’s not here right now is she?” he asked furiously. “Is she Elena?”

Elena shrank back slightly, finally comprehending what was going on with him. “That’s what this is all about isn’t it? It’s about Bonnie, and her not being here…” She paused as her eyes searched his face. “With you.”

Damon’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he said in a low voice, “ You don’t want to tread on this water Elena.”

She deflated, all the anger left her body, leaving behind sympathy and remorse. “Damon,” She started somberly. “I know your feelings for Bonnie are hard to deal with. It’s not easy seeing the person you love happy with somebody else, but she is happy with somebody else Damon. She’s with Jeremy and as hard as it is, you’re going to have to learn to accept that because you can’t go around acting like this. I won’t allow it. I’m sorry, but I won’t.”

Damon’s chest rose and fell rapidly as he listened to the words he didn’t want to hear. Deciding not to address the Bonnie part of her speech, he focused on the latter portion of it and muttered threateningly, “You don’t have to power to stop me.”

Elena cocked an eyebrow and lifted her chin as she replied, “Bonnie does.”

Damon roared angrily, picked up the closest thing to him, which happened to be a chair and threw it against the wall with enough force to split it into pieces. She jumped, but being use to his bouts of rage and knowing that he would never hurt her, was unafraid.

Damon strolled over to her and said with a deathly calm, “I think we’ve had enough of each other for one day. Goodnight Elena.” And with those final words he walked passed her out of the room and out of the mansion with a rage bubbling inside him that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

* * *

Damon sat in front of the fireplace at the Boarding house rehashing the events of the day in his mind when a knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. Groaning he got up and walked to the door, opened it, saw who stood on the other side and sighed heavily. “I thought we agreed that we need some time apart.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

Damon looked at the girl again and mentally kicked himself for even thinking she was Elena. “Katherine.” He said simply. “What do you want?”

He walked further into the house and she followed unfazed at his rude welcome. “I’m actually in need of a partner in crime. Thought you might want to go on a little road trip.”

Damon’s interest was piqued so he asked, “A road trip to where and why?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out, but I promise you won’t be disappointed.” She dangled Elena’s necklace in front of his face with a sly grin.

He eyed it curiously, weighing the pros and cons of leaving with her and then finding he didn’t quite care about the cons at the moment. Grabbing his leather jacket off the back of the couch, he shrugged it on and said, “Why the hell not, me and Mystic Falls need a break from each other anyway.”

He walked out of the front door and Katherine followed him smiling wickedly, surprised at not having to put up more of a fight to get him to leave with her. “I’ll drive,” she called after him, but quickly realized her words were unnecessary, when she seen him enter her car on the passenger side. She walked to her car and entered on the drivers side. She shut the door and looked at Damon. “Ready to have some fun?”

Damon sighed, knowing that whatever he was about to get himself into was not going to be good, but he was here and he didn’t feel like sticking around for the aftermath of his actions tonight so he said, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Katherine smirked, put the key in the ignition and started the car. “Lets go.” And they drove off into the night, leaving Mystic Falls and all its problems behind.


End file.
